Change Isn't Easy
by MaceEcam
Summary: Sometime change hurts. Sometime it doesn't. Either way, it's never easy.
1. Every New Beginning

Change Isn't Easy

A/N:_ Now, some of you maybe wondering why I am posting a story belonging to Visigoth. Well, as you may have noticed by my frequent run ins with kt over a certain "Bunny Eradicator 4000", such things as "creative rights" and "copyrighting" don't really mean that much to me so..._

_Kidding. Just kidding. Actually Visigoth has retired from the KP section of the site (a horrible thing indeed, but yes, it can happen). She then decided to put her fic up for adoption, and I volunteered to take care and finish it. These first 16 chapters are all hers, and will be marked as such in the chapter title._

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter One: Every new beginning...

Disclaimer: I own nada. This is a non-profit fictional piece.

--

She's gone.

The one person who ever truly cared about him had passed away.

She's gone.

She had always been there when he needed her. Sure she could be annoying at times, but that was part of what he loved about her.

She's gone.

So many things that he wanted to do. So many things that he wanted to tell her. So many things that were put off, because there was time to do them later. Then what he had thought would be years to do and say all those things had been cut down to a matter of weeks. Drew Lipsky, more widely known as Dr. Drakken, was no fool. He knew that this day would come; given the circumstances it was inevitable. But there is a difference between knowing and truly understanding. As he sat by the hospital bed, holding the now limp hand, he began to understand. Never again would she bug him about finding a girl and settling down. Never again would he hear her say 'my little Drewbie.' Never again would she kiss his forehead and make all the pain go away, if only for a little while.

Momma... momma you can't die... you can't leave me alone... I still need you...

Drew Lipsky held his mother's hand tightly, bending his head down as the sobs racked his body.

It does not matter that you know one day your mother will die. When that day comes, you will find you are not prepared.

--

The funeral was held at a small church in the retirement community where Mrs. Lipsky had lived. Drew was a little surprised at how many people attended. His mother had led an active life, and her retirement was no different. At least she wasn't lonely while I was off wasting my life. All that time spent trying to take over the world, and failing. Beaten by a teenage girl, no less. What have I gained? He looked around at the crowd and noticed that with the exception of Shego and Motor Ed, he knew no one. Motor Ed was Mama Lipsky's nephew. Shego had come more out of a sense of obligation than mourning. All the rest of the attendees were friends of his mother. It seemed strange to Drew that she had touched so many lives, yet as far as he could tell she had never tried to take over anything but his love life. In addition to the turnout, there were literally dozens of flower arrangements from people too far away to make the funeral. There was only one arrangement that was from someone he knew; a rather lovely carnation bouquet from the two Doctors Possible, their daughter Kim, his arch foe, and Ron, Kim's sidekick.

The minister droned on about full lives and better places. There was nothing else to say, really. What does one say at a time like this? No words could help ease the loss, not that the blue skinned next of kin paid them any attention. He just wanted it to be over.

He wanted it all to be over.

He didn't see the point in going on with things as usual. When you see someone close to you pass away, you start to question your own life, and the direction it is going. Drew didn't like the path he was on anymore.

The time had come for a change.

--

The lair had been terribly quiet and boring, Shego thought. After the funeral, Dr. D. had retreated to his room to 'get a handle' on the last few days. No plots were in the works. No death rays were under construction. There was a conspicuous lack of ranting about the many wrongs done to a certain blue skinned man by an uncaring and unfair world.

Simply put, it was beginning to un-nerve Shego.

It wasn't like Dr. Drakken had never faced adversity before. How many times had he been beaten and imprisoned after that little red haired nuisance and her blond buffoon of a boyfriend foiled yet another plan? How many times had she been imprisoned as well, for that matter? They had always snapped back, another plan ready to go.

But this time was different, wasn't it? This wasn't just a scheme gone wrong. He had lost something he couldn't replace and there was no guarantee he would recover.

Where would that leave her?

Shego never admitted to herself that she needed anyone. She wasn't consciously admitting it now, but she realized that she didn't want to change the status quo by losing her boss. She didn't have the technical expertise to go it alone, and she certainly couldn't see herself working for some pompous jerk like Dementor or a sleazy corporate smooth talker like Hench. Besides, she was... comfortable with Drakken. There was a mutual understanding between them. She would insult him at will, but still follow his instructions. He would ignore her insults, and keep paying her to do interesting things. It was the ideal arrangement from her point of view; she was doing what she wanted to do, and didn't have to worry about curbing her naturally waspish personality. Drakken had someone to do his "dirty work" for him. No attachments, no personal feelings...

Yeah. Definitely no feelings. Whatever made her feel better when he was around, it wasn't personal attachment.

Just as Shego reached this conclusion, Dr. Drakken finally came out of his rooms. "Shego," he said, "tell all the henchmen to meet in the lunchroom in half an hour, please. I'd like you to be there also."

This did little to calm her anxiety.

--

Drew was watching the henchmen slowly file into the lunchroom as Shego walked in, her typical bored expression firmly in place. "Okay, Dr. D. This is everyone in the lair. So what's the occasion?"

"Patience, Shego. All in good time." He looked at the faces of the people who worked for him. Mostly they appeared to be curious, if somewhat anxious. After all, when an "evil genius" calls a meeting, it usually isn't a good sign. He cleared his throat to make sure he had everyone's attention. "Let's get started."

"Now I know you are all curious as to the reasons for this meeting. Let me assure you that nothing bad is happening. In fact, I think you will be quite pleased with what I have to say."

"You all know of recent... events. I have become more appreciative of the value of family and friends. I have also developed a desire to spend some time alone. To this end, I am granting everyone here two weeks with pay to use as you see fit. It is my hope that you would use this time to visit family, friends, loved ones... but it is your time to use." The men simply gaped at one another, stunned at what they were hearing. "I also understand that some of you might not have the resources for such travel and vacation plans. Therefore I have prepared a small present for each of you. Shego, if you would help pass these out?" He handed his green skinned assistant half of a stack of envelopes, which she took with some curiosity. Until the Bueno Nacho fiasco, Drakken had never kept his plans from her. The envelopes were unmarked, so she simply started at the opposite end from her boss and handed them out to each of the henchmen. Soon she began to hear exclamations of surprise from the ones who had opened their 'present'. In each envelope was a stack of hundred dollar bills. Twenty five of them, to be specific. "I trust each one of you will behave responsibly with this money; I don't want to hear of anyone losing it in a poker game or similar nonsense. Do something that will make you happy, and I expect to see signs of that when you all return. The vacation begins now. Enjoy. Shego, will you come with me?" With that, Drew turned and headed towards his office. Shego's sense of apprehension was growing with each passing moment.

Once in the office, Drew went to the large window that overlooked the central area of the lair. A slight smile formed on his lips as he watched the celebration. "It's amazing how happy you can make someone with a handful of cash," he observed as Shego joined him.

"Yeah, it works great for getting rid of people for a while. So what are we doing while they're gone?"

"We, Shego?"

Shego blinked in surprise. "Doi, yeah we! When have you ever done anything without me that didn't end in disaster?"

Drew's smile never changed as he went to his desk and opened a drawer. "Who said I was going to do anything? I want everyone – including you – to enjoy a nice vacation. And since you are more of a partner than an employee, you deserve something a little more ... extravagant." He handed Shego a very thick envelope. "I took the liberty of scheduling the first stop on your vacation. It will only be for a day, unless you change your mind and wish to stay longer."

Shego opened the envelope and was surprised by the rather impressive stack of hundred dollar bills that she held in her hands. There was at least ten grand. She was equally surprised, but more annoyed, at the plane ticket to Go City. "Doc, I appreciate the gift, but ..."

"I know, Shego. But as I told the rest, I now appreciate how valuable family really is. I know that they still care for you, no matter what you've done. And I think that you might care for them. There is only one way to find out; use that ticket. If you spend a day with them and decide you really don't want them in your life, fine. Then you have the rest of the time and money to do whatever you wish. I'll even add extra days onto your vacation." Drew sat in his chair, folding his hands together on the desk. He seemed to study them intently before he continued. "You should find out now, Shego, whether they really mean anything to you. Not later, after someone is gone. It's too late then. Don't waste time. You don't get any more of it."

Shego was now beginning to see just how hard the death of his mother had hit Drakken. "Look Doc, I know that these last few days have been hard for you to handle, but my family... they aren't like your mother. They're... they're..."

"Pushy?"

"Yes. Exactly."

"Always telling you what to do?"

"Especially Hego. Always thinks he knows better than me what I should be doing."

"Sounds a lot like my mother, actually. Some people would call that taking an interest in you and your life."

"Taking an interest in me is one thing Doc, but Hego wants to run my life."

Drew stood and walked to the other side of his desk where Shego had perched. "Then talk to him and tell him how you feel. Perhaps your brothers feel the same way, and together you can get Hego to stop being so overbearing. Do the same with Mego and his self centered ways, and whatever problems you have with the twins as well. Clear the air, Shego. If all goes well, then you have your family back. Worst case scenario, things are the same, but you at least have told them how you feel and why you have gone on with your life without them. Either way, you tried. That's the important thing."

"ALL RIGHT, all right! I'll try. Just stop with the philosophy, it's giving me a headache. I'll give them one day. After that, I'm not promising anything."

"That's all I ask. You should probably start packing and making plans for the rest of your vacation. I don't expect you to spend all your time there, as it is probably best to take these things in steps. You'll have to catch the plane in Miami. It's an afternoon flight, but you'll have to leave here early in the morning to make it there in time."

"Why don't I just fly the hover car to Go City?"

"The American air defense systems have been dramatically improved over the last few months, and they tend to react badly to unidentified aircraft. I would hate to see your vacation cut short because you are running from the military."

Shego nodded her head. She had noticed that it had been much more difficult to sneak around without drawing at least a few curious and heavily armed jets. "Good point. So I fly low and make like a boat headed for port. What are you going to be doing while everyone's gone?"

"Oh I have a few minor projects to finish. Nothing special, just odds and ends. Then I want to enjoy some quiet time for a change. We're on an island in the Carribean, after all. No need to go any further than my own back yard for a relaxing break, right? I might even try this 'fishing' that everyone else seems to enjoy."

Shego managed not to laugh at the image of Drakken with a fishing pole and a hat with lures all over it, but she couldn't keep a sarcastic smile and comment from her lips. "Try and get some video of that, okay? It's sure to be a big hit at the next villain's convention!" Shego's face then turned thoughtful. "Then again it will probably be more fun than a day with my brothers. I'd better start packing. But first I need to figure out where I wanna go, then make reservations..."

"You'll have time to make more plans in Go City, Shego. You might even want to invite them along, if things go well."

"Not likely."

"Well, I'm giving you three weeks, if that helps. You can figure out where to go next once you're finished visiting the family."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Shego's concentration had obviously shifted to other things. Things which did not involve the blue skinned doctor she was currently ignoring. "Hey, I haven't been to Australia in a while..." With that, she got up from the desk and walked away from her boss, thinking of beautiful beaches and guys with accents.

"Have a nice trip, Shego," Drew called after her. His face betrayed his disappointment at her lack of response. What did I expect? Hugs? Kisses? She's here only for the money and thrills, and I'm just something she has to put up with to get what she wants. Shaking off his depressing thoughts and focusing his concentration, Drew Lipsky opened the side drawer and removed a small digital recorder from a hidden compartment. Well, soon she won't have to put up with me at all...

Shego wasn't the only one who had plans. Drew also had some things planned. "Shego," he began to speak into the recorder, "if you are hearing this, then it means something has gone wrong, and you have survived me..."

MORE TO COME...


	2. Some Other Beginning's End

Chapter Two: Some Other Beginning's End

Chapter Two: Some Other Beginning's End

Disclaimer: After a recent inventory, I have found I own lots of things. Unfortunately, Kim Possible and the other characters of the Disney show are not among those things. Certain original characters and the idea for this story are mine though.

--

Shego's eyes popped open to the buzzing of her alarm clock. 4:00 am... man I hate getting up this early. Eventually, the call of nature and the lure of the vacation forced her to throw back the covers and swing her legs over the side of her bed. Would an extra day's warning have killed him? She sat on the edge of her bed for another few minutes, allowing her mind to fully awaken. Just one early morning, then two – no, three weeks down under, where I don't have to get up at all... As she slowly struggled to her feet and went through the motions that signify the start of the day, Shego considered her immediate plans. "Six hours in the hover car to the port of Miami, then another couple hours on a plane to Go City. One day of dealing with my brothers. After that, it's G'day, baby!"

Shego went through her typical morning routine, this time with one additional task; since she planned to spend a lot of time in the sun in relatively skimpy bathing suits, she had to do something about her rather unique skin color. She had found, after trying various ideas such as makeup and several clothing color schemes, that self tanning cream was the most effective solution. It took time to work, and it wasn't permanent, but it would hide her identity from virtually anyone that didn't know her. As long as she stayed away from her trademark colors of green and black, there was simply nothing to tip off a casual observer that she was a wanted criminal.

Once she was dressed, Shego looked around her room to reassure herself that nothing had been forgotten. Once she was satisfied, she grabbed the two rather large suitcases she had packed and carried them out the door. She didn't worry about locking up; everyone knew better than to enter her quarters without her knowledge or permission. There wasn't really anything of value there anyway; only clothing and some magazines. After a few lairs had been reduced to rubble, everyone learned to keep sentimental or irreplaceable things somewhere else. The life of a criminal also demanded that she had to be ready to move at a moment's notice, and that meant living a rather spartan existence; you might not have time to grab a lot of stuff, and anything left behind might be a clue that would lead to your capture. That was the part of villainy that Shego hated most; no matter how much money she stole, no matter how refined her tastes became, she was basically living in the equivalent of a hotel room. There was no 'safe place' where she could have nice things or let her guard down. Sure, she had learned to relax as best she could, but there was always the nagging tension of being alert, scanning the security cameras, listening for strange noises, and waiting for the next time that snotty little princess Kimmie or Global Justice showed up to wreck whatever rat hole was passing for home at the time. That constant tension was part of why she was always so short tempered. Her brothers would willingly testify that she had never been an easy going soul, but since teaming up with Drakken, violence had become her preferred method for dealing with virtually every situation. Being constantly on the run and never feeling safe could be very hard on the nerves, and Shego desperately needed this vacation to 'recharge the batteries.' She was looking forward to it with such tunnel vision that many questions that she would normally have asked simply never occurred to her, such as how Drakken planned to operate the security systems of the lair by himself, or how the normal day to day housekeeping and repair needs were going to be met. All she could think about was getting through a visit with the family, and then getting to the relaxation she needed.

She never even thought to say goodbye.

--

Drew had also risen early, knowing that his green sidekick would need to rise early to make her flight. In fact, he had made an attempt at breakfast, which was now rapidly cooling on the table where he usually shared meals with her. He glanced at his watch. 4:35... If Shego doesn't get moving soon, she'll be cutting it too close... "I'd better make sure she's awake."

A short walk brought Drew to the living area of the lair. Tapping on Shego's door, he called out to her. "Shego, are you awake? You'll have to hurry if you're going to make your flight. The next one isn't until tomorrow, and you don't want to spend the first day of your vacation alone here with me, do you? Shego?" He knocked a little louder on the door. "Shego, I'm going to open the door unless you answer." He listened for a few moments, and resumed pounding on the door when he still heard no response. "Shego, wake up! If you miss it I'm not giving you any more vacation days!" The silence from her room persisted. "Alright, Shego, I'm giving you to the count of three and I'm coming in. One."

Silence.

"Two! I'm not kidding, Shego!"

Total silence.

"Three! Ready or not, here I come!" Drew turned the knob and slowly opened the door. The room was dark. After a second of fumbling around, he found the light switch and flipped it on. The bed had been made, and her luggage was gone; obviously, so was she. In spite of his plans, he couldn't help but feel slightly hurt at her abrupt departure. Not even a goodbye, eh Shego? I guess you'll be fine on your own. He stood there for a moment, shoulders slumped, looking at the empty room. "Will you even miss me?" With a shake of his head, he straightened his shoulders and turned. As he strode back out of Shego's room and closed the door, he began talking to himself. "This is a good reminder of why I'm doing this. Once I'm out of the picture, maybe she'll do something better with her life. Anyway I have no more time to waste on self pity. There is much to be done if this is to work smoothly."

A few minutes later brought Drew to his lab. "I must check the magnetic field; I certainly don't want anything to happen prematurely." In the corner was a small glowing glass sphere. After looking at several digital readouts, the blue scientist appeared pleased. "The field is holding even better than I expected. Too bad no one will ever see this. I imagine even my old classmates would be amazed to see this much anti-matter in one place. Maybe one day I will be able to duplicate my work... But for now, this is the key to erasing my existence." Drew Lipsky then sat down to his computer and began what would be a long day of creating bank accounts, identities, wiring money, and covering his tracks.

He never realized that pretending to die was a lot more work than actually dying.


	3. What you don't know

Chapter Two: Some Other Beginning's End

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter Three: What you don't know...

Disclaimer: Me no own. You no sue. No get money, not have any.

--

The journey to the coast of Florida was dull to say the least. A thermos of rather expensive gourmet coffee allowed Shego to remain awake and generally alert, but extremely bored.

For someone like Shego, being alone with your thoughts can be a very unpleasant thing.

First, she remembered that she hadn't given Drakken any idea of where she was going. After a few moments of remorse, she began rationalizing. It's okay, we both have satellite phones. It's not like he can't reach me if something happens.

The next thought, coming right on the heels of the first, was that Drakken was alone in the lair for the only time she could remember. A cascade of nightmare scenarios began to plague her imagination as she realized that while Drakken might be a technical genius, he couldn't even program a VCR, let alone monitor the security systems and alarms that Shego demanded. What if Possible and her loser boyfriend go after him? What if Global Justice grabs him? What if Dementor or Gemini make a power play and try to kidnap him? What if... What if... Shego growled to herself as she slammed her fists down on the control panel. "This is stupid! I'm acting like I'm his mother or something. He's a grown man. He wants to rule the world. He should be able to take care of himself for a few weeks. Besides, some time alone will show him how much he really needs me." She then turned her thoughts to the Australian beaches, and in her mind began to plan out her relaxation and the things she might want see and do while she was there. This lasted for about an hour, before one last distracting and guilt laden thought hit her.

"Oh crap, I didn't even tell him that I was leaving." Her eyes drifted over to the compartment that held the satellite phone. "Maybe I should..." In her mind she heard Drakken's voice, and remembered when they had gotten the phones. "These are only for emergencies, Shego. They're very expensive to use. I don't want you ordering clothes or what have you with them. You can do that on the Internet." Shego returned her eyes to the horizon, noting that she was closing in on the coastline near Miami. "He's probably not awake yet anyway. I need to concentrate on getting to the airport unnoticed, not worrying about Dr. D getting captured or blowing himself up..."

Try as she might, Shego just couldn't shake the sense of foreboding she now had.

--

"Now I know why more people don't try this," Drew thought to himself. "I'm ready to just push the stupid button and be done with it." It had been a long day, with a very early start, and now a late ending seemed inevitable. "I could make a fortune offering this as a service, if I had the patience to do it very often." He was hunched over in front of a large computer monitor, squinting at bank account numbers that were entirely too long. Part of his plan for removing himself from existence required that he set up an account with enough money for his needs once a new identity was established.

Not a big deal. He had a multitude of secret off shore accounts with enough money to live like a king – or at least a disgustingly rich prince – for the rest of his life, but that wasn't what he wanted anymore. A simpler life, free of complications, intrusions, and most responsibilities, was his new goal. He also wanted to leave Shego with enough money to live however she chose, so he couldn't just take it all. Besides, a lot of that money was rightfully hers. Leaving her hanging would be wrong, and that wasn't the way he wanted to start his new life.

It would also tell Shego what was really happening, and she would likely come after him at that point. Whoever had first spoken of scorned women and Hell's fury must have known Shego, or someone much like her.

So, in order to make his plan successful, Drew knew that he would need to take small amounts of money from each account, 'launder' it through several stops, and get it to a another account that he had set up for his new cover. Simple in theory, but extremely difficult in execution. Each transaction had to have a plausible reason that would stand up to at least casual scrutiny, and none of them could be easily traced back to him.

"The next time I want to torture someone, I'm going to make them come up with several dozen unique ways to do the same stupid task." Scooting his chair back from the desk, he looked at the time. "Shego should have arrived at her brothers' home hours ago. I wonder how it's going." He stood up and stretched his back, which was aching from hours of bad posture in front of a keyboard and mouse. "It has to be better than how my day has gone."

--

Shego had actually managed to forget about Dr. Drakken for a while. Sneaking through a secluded but not uninhabited area of beach had drawn her undivided attention. That, however, was the last semi-pleasant event of the day. What she encountered at the airport would have made a nun scream profanities. Though she wasn't a patient woman, she was prepared for long lines.

What she wasn't expecting was a security screener that apparently had issues and no sense of humor.

Shego had been rather heavy handed when applying the bronzing cream that gave her a normal skin color. It had been necessary to completely hide her normal green tones. She had never considered a nice tan a problem, but when combined with her dark hair, she now had a bit of a middle eastern appearance.

And of course the screener, seeing a rather attractive woman fitting the profile of a possible threat, pounced like a cat on a stunned mouse.

"Excuse me ma'am, but you've been picked for a random search. Would you come with me please?"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me. I've got two suitcases here. Why don't you pick someone else? Someone with less stuff?"

"I'm sorry, but we don't have any control over this; the computer just selects one at random, or sometimes someone gets flagged because of destination, origin of flight, or whatever they've added to the programming." Of course, he didn't mention that he could trigger that flag on his own. "But when it comes up, we have to search your baggage. Now if you would just step over here, we'll try to get through this as quickly and painlessly as possible."

Shego rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "Fine, fine, whatever, let's just get this over with, okay? I have four annoying idiot brothers to visit today before I get to my real vacation, sport."

"Ma'am, this won't take that long. Please try to be patient." He led her to a small room with a table where her bags could be opened and their contents examined. "If you would open up your baggage, we can get started." He began by looking at the few electronic devices, a camera and an MP3 player, asking to see them operate and such. As he continued sorting through her clothing, Shego began to dislike the attention he was giving her underwear. "Listen, buddy, it's called a bra. If you got out of the house and found a girlfriend, you might know that. Don't you have a sister or a mother? Go sniff around in their underwear drawer and stop fondling mine!"

The screener looked up at her. The understanding attitude he had been trying to maintain fell away and was replaced by one of complete hostility. "Actually, ma'am," and the title spoken between clenched teeth, "a few days ago a search turned up a bra that was padded with plastic explosives. The fuse was found in a box of tampons, and the detonator was a ball point pen. Since then, we've been giving special attention to such items. The plane she was going to take out was full. Most of the flights today have a lot of people on them. People that I will see in my nightmares if something I miss ends up killing them. So you'll forgive me if I don't give a damn about your modesty or privacy. If it bothers you that much, next time rent a car."

Less than fifteen minutes later, Shego was standing in front of a female screener, wearing nothing but her underwear, silently kicking herself for not keeping her mouth shut. There was no way to bail out now. Not only was she practically naked, but it would end her vacation and have her running from federal agents. Geez I hope this doesn't get too invasive. I don't think I covered everything with the tanning cream...

--

Dr. Lipsky rose from his chair, struggling to straighten his back. "Finally it's done. Good thing, too. One more infernal bank code to type in and I would have had to launder some money through a chiropractor." An odd look crossed his face, then he bowed his head. "Oh of course, now I get ideas. No matter I suppose. I think it is well past time I got some sleep. Tomorrow I start a long, long journey. One final check to make sure I haven't forgotten anything..." He scanned a piece of paper with numerous check marks on it, with only one note at the bottom that hadn't been crossed off. "Ah, I have to send the video message for Shego. That should only take a moment..." A few clicks of the mouse and his recorded file was uploaded to a special server which would send it to her email when he didn't send another email by tomorrow. "Now for a good night's sleep."

On his way to his room, Drew grabbed a warm glass of milk from the kitchen area. "Just to make sure I sleep. Soon... Soon I will be able to enjoy such simple pleasures without any plans or schemes looming over me. I just have to make this one scheme work."

As he settled himself in his bed, he never thought about this being his last night in the lair. He wasn't troubled that he would now be Drew Lipsky instead of Dr. Drakken, mad genius. There was only one thing that bothered him; he had seen Shego for the last time. But right now, she was with her brothers, and perhaps steering her life in a better direction.

In his mind, she was protected by family, and that was enough to let him sleep peacefully. If he had any idea of what was in store for both Shego and himself, and the things he would soon learn, he might never have slept again.


	4. Going out with a Bang

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter Four: Going out with a Bang

Disclaimer – If you don't know by now, you haven't been paying attention to these disclaimers anyway.

--

The flight to Go City was a lot less eventful than the preflight screening which had cost Shego so much of her dignity. After a few hours and a brief layover in Atlanta, she found herself in the exit area of the airport. She would have preferred to have the freedom that a rental car offered, but Go Tower, her one time home, was on an island inaccessible to ground traffic. Since her hover car was hidden in a shallow lagoon in Florida, she would have to get to the pier that offered rides to the many small islands dotting Great Go Lake. Living on an island was one of the few things she thought Hego had gotten right. By limiting access, the Tower was much more secure, and Team Go had made quite a few enemies over the years.

As Shego hailed a cab and told the driver her destination, she wondered why her brothers didn't count her among those enemies. After all, the last time she saw her brothers, she tried to keep all their powers for herself. Aviarius, one of the dumber but more persistent villains her brothers faced, had used a special cane to drain the 'comet power' that made Hego super strong, let Mego shrink or grow, and allowed her younger twin brothers Wego I and Wego II to make copies of themselves. He had also stolen her ability to form and control the green fire around her body, and things had looked pretty bad. So bad, in fact, that she had teamed up with Kim Possible to turn the tables. Eventually she snagged the cane, turned on everyone, and gave all the powers to herself. She had them all on the ropes, until Drakken burst onto the scene, distracting her and allowing Kim Possible to kick the cane out of her hands. Everyone got their power back, and Shego and Drakken ran back to their own lair. She had wanted to kill Drakken for interfering, but she just couldn't do it.

After all, he had come to rescue her when he thought she was in trouble.

She emerged from her thoughts as the cab slowed in front of the pier. "That's nineteen bucks, lady."

Shego handed the driver a twenty and walked to the small booth where she could get a ride to the island. "Hey sport, how much to get to Go Tower, and when can you take me?"

The elderly man who was in the booth looked closely at her. "You look like her, but you aren't green..." He shook his head. "Sorry, lost my train of thought there. That island is restricted. Can't take you there unless you got permission from Team Go. Good news is, if you got permission, it's a free trip. Do you?"

"Yeah, I got a permission slip right here, buddy." She raised her hands, which were now glowing green. "Remember me now?"

It is you... yeah, I remember." Underneath the counter, his foot stepped on a small pressure plate, which would set off an alert in the Tower. "But you aren't on the team anymore. So you still need permission, don't you?"

"Listen buddy, I am in a really bad mood. Screeners clawing through my clothes, screaming kids on the plane, and now I have to spend the day with my brothers before I can get on with the rest of my vacation. So call 'em, find out if they want to see their sister or not, and do it now!"

As her tirade reached its peak, a cell phone rang. The old man pulled a phone out of his jacket and hit the answer button. "Yeah? Yeah, it's her. You sure? Alright, it's up to you. It's your house and she's your sister. We're on our way." With that, he hit the end button and put the phone back in his jacket. "Well, looks like you got Hego's attention. Says you're welcome anytime. Shall we go? He sounded anxious to see you." He grabbed a 'closed' sign from underneath the counter, hung it on the front of the booth, and headed towards a small boat tied to the closest dock. Once Shego secured her bags in the back and was seated, he started the engine and cast off the mooring ropes. For the second time in one day, she felt she had reached a point of no return. Unless she decided to swim for it, she was stuck with her brothers for the rest of the day.

The boat ride was actually pleasant. It brought back memories of her younger self, before all the fighting with Hego and Mego, when they had been a family, having fun and fighting bad guys. Her father had been a fishing fanatic, and loved to be on the water even if he didn't have a rod and reel in his hands. Her mother hadn't been much better. She never cared much for fishing, but she loved the water so much that her friends swore she was at least part mermaid. They had practically lived on the water.

And they died there as well.

Shego wrenched her mind away from those memories. Spending time with her brothers was going to be difficult enough without remembering events that pushed her away from them.

"We're here. Hego said he'd meet you at the front door. Here's the number to call when you want to leave. Try to keep it to reasonable hours, okay?" He handed over a business card with the appropriate information, and Shego began walking to the entrance of the 'Fortress of Fools' as she liked to call it. Her walk was a slow, measured pace usually seen on death row inmates taking their last journey.

She seriously didn't want to do this.

Seriously.

In spite of her reluctance and lack of speed, she soon made it to the door. I figured that Hego would be at the door. He really goes for that etiquette crap. Just as she was about to knock on the oversized entrance, the door opened and Shego experienced something called a 'glomp'. Some describe a glomp as an overly energetic hug. Shego thought it was more of a football tackle disguised as an act of endearment. The only thing that told her that she wasn't really under attack were dozens of voices, all sounding the same, yelling "Shego!" and "Sis!" over and over again. "OKAY, okay! Let's cut it down to just the two of you, alright?" She had a glare on her face that would have made any sane person run from the room, but the many red blurs that merged into two young boys were used to her bad temper. "Aw, come on, sis! We haven't seen you in months!" "Yeah, we missed you!"

"Yeah yeah yeah." A small but genuine grin finally broke through the scowl on her face as she knelt down and hugged her twin younger brothers. The twins, at least, didn't hold any grudges. "I missed you guys too."

--

Some time later, in a local fast food joint, the three siblings continued their reunion. "So Hego and Mego went to a conference for today, and left the two of you alone?" She shook her head in disbelief. "Those two jerks have got to be the worst role models ever."

"Aw come on, sis. We're..." "thirteen now. We can..." "take care of ourselves."

"Yeah, I saw that. Making a voice modulator to sound like Hego and fool the guy with the boat is such a good use of your brains. And what was that disaster in the kitchen? What was it supposed to be?"

"Well it was supposed to..." "be our dinner. But then..." "we set the oven too hot."

"Well that would explain why it looked like charcoal. Now you have something to do for the rest of the night. That should keep you out of trouble until the jerks get home."

"They don't get..." "back until tomorrow morning."

"Those...THOSE..." Belatedly, Shego's mind grasped the implications of that bit of information. No Hego. No Mego. Not until tomorrow morning. Just a pleasant afternoon with the two brothers she liked. "Actually," she said in a much calmer voice, "that'll work out just fine. So what do you guys want to do with the rest of the day? Besides cleaning up the kitchen?"

--

As Drew rose from his slumber and began his last day in the lair, he decided that he would make an extravagant breakfast to mark this special day. He went to the kitchen and was immediately stopped by two facts.

First, there wasn't so much as an egg or slice of bacon to be found; only cereal, oatmeal, milk, juice, and tea. Instant tea.

Second, even if there were a fully stocked refrigerator and pantry available, he had absolutely no idea how to cook anything beyond a grilled cheese sandwich.

"I'm going to have to do something about that. If I intend to live on my own, I need to learn how to cook and so forth. I don't want to live on fast food and microwave dinners." After a bit of rooting around to see if any other breakfast type foods were available, he decided that he would make do with some toast, oatmeal, juice, and tea. "It's not exactly a world class buffet, but it will do for now. Note to self: get some very basic cookbooks, and anything available on treating food poisoning." Dr. Drakken had been an overconfident fool. Drew Lipsky planned on being a realist. He was well aware that his first attempts at even basic meals would likely go horribly wrong. A grin appeared on his face suddenly. "Wouldn't that be a headline? 'Famous Super Villain Found Dead In Kitchen: Fowl Play Suspected.' Ah, Dementor and Killigan would laugh themselves sick." Chuckling to himself, he took the several dishes and glasses that contained his makeshift breakfast to the table and sat down. As he munched away, he thought about the silence that permeated the lair now. The only sounds were those of the appliances in the kitchen and a few that he could hear from other parts of the lab. It seemed strange; no henchmen goofing about or doing odd tasks, no Shego making snide comments about whatever came to her mind, no teenage do-gooders wrecking his latest invention... Only quiet.

"Silence is golden... I think I finally understand that old phrase. I'll make up for it later today."

After breakfast, Drew began his final preparations for his grand finale. His daily checklist was done, except for a few last details. "Alright, last check of the list. Bank accounts all set up. Final message for Shego loaded and ready. Hover car loaded, fueled, and ready to go. Temporary living area secured. All necessary documents are safely in the car. Remote trigger," Drew patted his jacket pocket, "all set with fresh batteries. Looks like it's time." He went to his room and changed into a new set of clothes. Making his way to the lab, he looked over the readouts one more time. "Very good. Enough antimatter so that even at forty percent efficiency, there should be a yield equivalent to three megatons. That should completely erase this island... And Dr. Drakken."

Drew was not the most skilled pilot in the world, but he was adequate. Shego only needed a small launch tube, but he needed a large bay door. After that, he had no problems. The altitude was set by computer, and there was very little to hit over open water. About twenty miles from the island, he stopped the car and looked back. One last time he went over his list to make sure nothing was forgotten. "I think I might be developing an obsessive-compulsive disorder about this, but I suppose when you're ending one life and starting another a little attention to detail is required. But there's nothing left now. No turning back." He pulled the remote, a modified high power transmitter, and pushed the arm button. "Out with the old..." He hit the trigger button.

Even though it was a bright day without a cloud in the sky, the explosion was so bright it appeared to be a second sunrise.

"And in with the new." He tossed the remote into the ocean. It would be a few minutes before the shockwave would reach him. He resumed his original course, which would take him towards Central America. Away from Dr. Drakken. Away from a life of crime, failure, and disappointment.

"Towards a new beginning."

--

Shego awoke to face a new day. She was in a surprisingly good mood considering she was intent on picking a fight with her two older brothers. Or perhaps it wasn't that surprising after all. She went to the kitchen, which was cleaner than it had been, but it still wouldn't pass a Health Department inspection unless the official was blind or bribed. It didn't bother her. She had been surrounded by men for most of her life, and general clutter didn't bother her. As long as it didn't look like she would need a tetanus shot or a stomach pump, she just pushed it out of her way or worked around it.

It was a little early, about seven in the morning, and her two annoying brothers would be back sometime around ten. That was plenty of time to plan out the verbal – and possibly physical – beating she intended to deliver to them. Leaving two thirteen year olds to fend for themselves for a day and a half. What are those two idiots thinking? The incinerated attempt at dinner the night before was evidence of what could have happened. She had thought about just leaving and not even waiting for them to return. After all, Drakken hadn't said she had to see her entire family. But if she had left, she would have been just as bad as Hego and Mego, leaving two kids on their own. The thing that really kept her from leaving was the idea of her two little brothers, whom she still loved deeply, caught in a burning tower while her two older brothers, whom she wasn't sure she could keep from killing, were off who knows where.

Oh yeah, she was going to stick around and give someone a piece of her mind. And maybe her boot, and perhaps a fist or two...

Before she finished her breakfast, the twins walked into the kitchen. "Hey, that smells..." "good. Is there more?"

"Yep. I figured you two bottomless pits would be hungry. It's on the stove, still warm, so dig in."

"Thanks Sis. You're..." "the best!"

"No problem guys. It's nice to cook for someone who appreciates it."

After the three had finished their breakfast, they moved into the 'rumpus room' as Hego had named it, which had a large projection television and every game a teenage boy or adult man could want. "Man, this place is a shrine to wasting time. Don't you guys go to school anymore?" Shego teased the two teens, who just grinned back at her. "Home..." "School."

She could only stare, open mouthed, at the two. "Oh no. Please no. Please tell me those dim bulbs aren't your teachers."

The grins grew even wider. "Nope. We have..." "a tutor. And she..." "is really hot!"

Shego let out an explosive sigh of relief. "Yep, you two are growing up all right. Go, play games. I'm gonna watch some TV until our older brothers get home. I got a feeling our little chat might just last a while." Amazingly enough the boys headed for a pool table, rather than the video game console she had expected. "Maybe there's hope yet." A brief search located the remote for a small television set that was meant for monitoring news while the main set was used for movies, games, and general viewing. As she flipped through the channels to find something of interest, she found that all of the networks had the same story. Some sort of explosion. There were a lot of talking heads explaining technical details, all of which bored her. "Must be some sort of natural disaster or accident. No mention of terrorists or demands." As she continued to watch, she was a little impressed with the magnitude of the explosion. "Must have been one big firecracker, since they're measuring it in megatons. But where was it?" Finally, almost as if responding to her question, a graphic was flashed up on the screen locating the center of the explosion. Shego's eyes widened as she began to recognize the area as part of the Caribbean Sea. "Drakken must be freakin' out right now." The graphic zoomed in, pinpointing the 'epicenter' of the explosion. She recognized the three islands that were shown, and she knew there was only one other island anywhere near the explosion.

The lair.

The twins were shocked to hear Shego start screaming at them. "PHONE! Where's the damn phone?!" They were too stunned to do anything other than point to the desk holding a cordless unit, which she almost destroyed in her haste to dial. "The number you have dialed is unavailable at this time. If you feel you have reached this message in error..." "No, no no!" She tried dialing the number again, slowly this time to make sure she had hit the right keys, and got the same message.

Drakken never turned that phone off, because it was how he talked with certain associates and suppliers. He even kept it plugged in, to make sure it was always charged. Since it was a satellite phone, it was guaranteed to work anywhere on the planet with the possible exception of the polar regions. It was so important that it was the only bill he had set up as an automatic payment. The only way that she should get that message was if the phone itself was damaged.

Or destroyed...

Shego's heart froze mid-beat. The horrible chill quickly traveled up her spine and shut down her mind. As it spread throughout her body, her arms dropped to her side, and the phone dropped from her numb fingers. Her legs wobbled underneath her, giving way and sending her to her knees, but her eyes never left the TV screen. Her younger brothers, stunned by their sister's sudden change in behavior, ran to her side. "Sis! Shego!" "What's wrong?"

Her lips were forming words, though her lungs refused to give them sound.

"Come on, Sis! Talk..." "to us. Tell us what's wrong!"

Finally she uttered something they could hear, as she reached her hand towards the television. "Dr. D... No... Please... NO..."

--

Far above the earth, outside of any normal orbit, a pair of satellites had taken note of the large heat bloom on the planet below. Neither satellite could detect the presence of the other, nor could any other satellite, even if it were to pass within a few meters. They were marvels of stealth, and they had the vastness of space on their side. Various sensors recorded the event, analyzing and processing an amazing volume of information about the event. Each one, oblivious of the other, began transmitting that information in an encrypted stream to its master.

No government, big or small, superpower or third world, knew about either the satellites or the masters they served. But the masters... They knew each other very well. Their organizations, for lack of a better word, had been at each other's throats for many years now.

They knew one another very well indeed.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Mace here. I'm callin it quits on the uploads tonight, heading off to bed. I'll get the rest tomorrow.


	5. Out of the Shadows

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter Five: Out of the Shadows

Disclaimer – Don't own, Disney does. Not making money. For fun only. Got it?

--

Drew traveled northwest from his former life at a leisurely pace, but still reached his goal by early afternoon. With the exception of the blast wave from the lair's destruction, it had been an enjoyable trip. "I have to find a way to keep the hover car. You just can't beat it for getting around. Perhaps I can patent it and sell the design. That way I would simply be the rich, eccentric loner who happens to have one of the first models." He considered the merits of the idea. There were many people who would recognize the hover car as being connected to Dr. Drakken, and would be very suspicious if one were seen zipping around. But would they draw the same conclusion if it were mass produced?

An idea began to form in the back of his mind. Drew Lipsky, or André Lipscolm as his passport and other ID's now read, might have found something to keep him busy for quite some time. Since Dr. Drakken had perished in the explosion, then perhaps now André might come forward as the brains behind many of Drakken's inventions. It would be easy to believe that someone who couldn't manage to best a cheerleader might not have been the inventor of all those devices.

The more he thought of it, the better he liked the idea. It seemed to bring everything together. It gave him a 'career' of sorts as an inventor. It also provided a good cover story for why he had never been heard of before; fear of Drakken.

These thoughts were swimming through the currents of his mind as he landed on a deserted part of a small island off the coast of Belize. A short walk would take him around to the other, more inhabited side of the island, but first he had to verify that his latest little gadget was working properly. Taking out a mirror, he gazed upon the face of André. No scars, no blue skin, and brownish blond hair. Thanks to the wristwatch he had modified with a holographic projector, he had a new face to go along with his new identity. It would soon get a field test.

--

Miguel was not in a good mood. Not only had his morning charter ended their trip early and demanded a refund of half of their money, one of them had apparently given back his breakfast all over the deck. I'm surprised they didn't want a refund for that also. He was finishing off the messy cleanup job with a final bucket of water when a stranger came to the dock. Now what?

"Hola. Eh, habla anglais?"

"Sì, seńor. I speak English. What do you want?"

"Well, I seem to be stuck here on this island. My friends were supposed to pick me up this morning, but they haven't shown up yet. I was hoping you might be able to get me to the mainland. What would you charge to make the trip?"

Miguel thought to himself for a moment. "Well, seńor, it would take a half a tank of fuel to get there and back, and fuel is expensive. A half day's charter costs about six hundred dollars American."

The pale stranger quirked an eyebrow at the stated price. "Ah, but I'm not needing you for a half day. This is just a quick trip, no more than an hour. How about fifty?"

"It might be a quick trip, but you have no other way off the island, do you? But because I am nice, I make you deal. Three hundred."

"That still seems quite expensive."

"So is the fuel, as I told you. Swimming is cheap. Do you like sharks?"

The stranger gazed at the water as if he were considering that alternative. "Not as much as they might like me, I think. Look, all I have with me in cash is two hundred. I don't remember seeing a bank here, so that's all I can give you. Think of it as a good deed for the day."

Miguel considered this. Two hundred was better than nothing, and there was no chance of getting another charter today. After buying the gas, he would make a small profit and still have time to do some work on the boat this evening before sunset. "Okay, seńor. I will do it for two hundred. But you recommend Miguel to your friends when they want to fish, sì?"

The stranger smiled and offered his hand. "I think we have a deal. As a matter of fact, I might just want to do some fishing myself sometime soon, and when I do I'll come looking for you. Miguel, right?"

" Sì. Miguel Trevino, Blue Island Charters. You send business my way, and I make you good deal on your trip. What is your name?"

"I'm André. André Lipscolm. Pleased to meet you. I'm going to be here a while, and it's good to meet local businessmen."

--

High above Great Go Lake a gaudily colored VTOL jet began a leisurely descent towards Go Tower. Inside the jet, the two occupants were lazily discussing the news of the day and what might have been behind the tremendous explosion in the Caribbean. "I still think it was a dormant volcano. If someone had a nuclear weapon that large, they would have used it somehow." The speaker, a large, heavily muscled man with black hair and a blue and black jumpsuit, was controlling the jet.

The other occupant, slightly taller but less bulky, was in an identical jumpsuit, but with purple instead of blue. "Well, I have never heard of a volcano or anything like that in that part of the world. Maybe it wasn't nuclear, but I bet that someone had a huge cache of explosives or something on one of those little islands down there. Probably Aviarius or some other nutjob trying to get back at Me for defeating their latest plot." Whether consciously or not, the purple clad passenger always emphasized any pronoun referring to himself. "That's what I think, Hego."

"Aviarius is still safely in his cage, Mego. If it was some villain bent on doing evil, let's hope they were right on top of it when it blew up. Every government in the world is going to crawl over that place with every tool they have. We'll know soon enough what it was." The jet made a perfectly smooth touchdown on the rooftop elevator. Hego looked at his brother with a smug grin on his face. "Another sweet landing."

Mego shot a sour look back at Hego. "I could have done it just as well, but you never let Me fly the Go Jet."

"The leader always flies the Go Jet, Mego. When you have your own team, you can fly your team's jet." The engines cut off, and the canopy lifted with a motorized whine.

"Shego flew the jet when she was here."

"That's because I didn't feel like hearing her screaming."

As Mego removed the flight harness, his expression clearly proclaimed that he was considering this as a way to get some flight time.

"Don't even think about it, Mego."

More sour looks came from Mego's direction, even though Hego obviously didn't care. The pair exited the aircraft and took the elevator to the main level. "Wegos! We're back. How did it go last night?" Hego looked around, a little surprised at the lack of response. "Twins, where are you?"

Mego went to the doorway to the rumpus room to see if the two youngest members of Team Go might be watching TV, and what he saw stunned him enough to forget his self centered world view. There on the couch, twins on either side of her, was a black haired woman. Except for her skin color, she was identical to his absent sister. "Hego! Over here!" He walked into the room and looked at the stranger's face. Her eyes were vacant. The only sign that she was alive was the shaking of her entire body. Her hands were gripping the those of the twins tightly enough to make her knuckles white.

Hego, alarmed by Mego's voice, sprinted to the door and saw the woman on the couch. Could that be Shego? "Wegos, are you alright? Who is that? What's wrong with her?"

"We're fine, and it's..." "Shego, you dork! We don't..." "know what's wrong with her."

Hego moved around in front of the stranger that might be his sister and looked closely. If it wasn't Shego, it was her twin. That didn't make him any more confident that she wasn't a threat. If anything, she was more dangerous than most of the villains they faced. Shego was a villain, for that matter, but the woman in front of him was clearly in shock. Unless she was very good at acting, she wasn't a threat at the moment. "Okay, Wegos, one of you get the medical kit from the infirmary, and the other one go get something warm for her to drink. Tea, coffee, warm milk, anything. Hurry."

As the twins tried to let go of her hands, Shego moaned and gripped tighter. "No... No more leaving. Don't leave. Never leave."

"Shego, we're going..." "to get you something to..." "make you feel better."

Hego spoke up. "Has she been this way long?"

"Yes," the twins answered in stereo. "We were playing pool when..." "she started screaming for the phone." "She tried to call someone, and..." "then she fell on the floor." "We got her on the..." "couch and she's been like..." "this for a couple hours."

"Okay, then she's not likely to change in the next few minutes. New plan. Mego, you get the medical kit. I'll get something soothing from the kitchen. Wegos, try to get her to respond to you."

A few minutes later, Hego returned to the rumpus room. Mego hadn't yet returned. The twins were quietly trying to get Shego to talk, assuring her that she was safe and that everything was fine. Hego knelt down in front of her, prying one of her hands away from the twins and putting it around the handle of a mug of cocoa. "Here, Shego." He gently placed his hand over hers and guided the mug to her mouth. "Just take a drink. It will help you relax, and then you can tell us what's wrong, okay?" He managed to get her to sip a little, which did seem to calm her somewhat. "See? That helped a little, right? It's going to be okay, Sis. I know you have some fascination with evil, but we are family, and a little cocoa helps move your troubles away..."

Deep in her mind, Shego was dimly aware of words coming from somewhere, but they were distorted and sketchy, like a radio with bad reception. She did make out 'evil', 'family', 'cocoa', and 'move'. Memories were stirred by those bits and pieces. "I like to think of us as an evil family," Drakken had said. And when he went through his 'good phase,' he had made his favorite drink. "That's good coco-moo." Struggling, she tried to focus her eyes on the source of the words. She saw a man, wearing blue, with black hair. She was in no condition to tell the difference between what was really there and what she desperately wanted to see. "Dr. ... Dr. D? You're alive!" She jumped off the couch and grabbed the man kneeling in front of her. "I thought you were gone!" Tears were falling from her chin onto a very confused Hego's shoulder. "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

Hego looked at his brothers, who were now much more concerned about their ailing sister. "There there, Shego. It's okay. It will all be okay." Stroking her long hair to ease her sobs, he gently picked her up and sat her back on the couch. The twins moved out of the way so that Hego could sit next to her. She tightened her grip, but never moved her head from his shoulder. After a few minutes her sobbing lessened, and her iron grip on her brother eased slightly, but her arms never fell from his neck. Gradually she began to doze off. When Hego thought she was actually asleep, he looked at the twins and spoke in a hushed voice. "Twins, go and get some pillows and blankets. Sleep is the best thing for her now. When she wakes up, maybe she can tell us what set her off. If she's still out of it, we'll deal with it then." Hego didn't know what was wrong with her, or who if anyone was responsible. But something he hadn't felt in a long time was stirring within him as he held his vulnerable and obviously hurting sister in a protective embrace.

If someone had done this to her, they were going to pay dearly.

--

Somewhere in the Midwest, in an underground facility, the recent explosion sparked a different reaction among a small group of men. The leader, a man of unremarkable physical description, questioned the scientist of the group. "How certain are you that this event was a matter – antimatter detonation?"

The scientist, a tall but thin man, had a confident, authoritative bearing uncommon among his profession. "About as sure as I am of the sun rising in the east tomorrow morning. The electromagnetic signature our recon satellite recorded is unique to that type of reaction."

"This was an extremely large blast even by nuclear standards. How much antimatter would it take to do this?"

"That's a lot more difficult to pinpoint. There are several factors, the most important of which would be the efficiency of the reaction. The simple truth is no one has ever had more than microscopic quantities. We have tried to come up with a simulated triggering system for such a device, and the best efficiency we can achieve is about 35 percent. Using that number, and the initial estimates of a 5 megaton yield, 328.5 milligrams of antimatter and an equal amount of normal matter would be needed. Before you ask, that is a staggering amount of antimatter. It would easily be more than the total amount of antimatter ever isolated in every lab in the world."

"So who did it?"

The third member of the group pushed a file towards the leader. "Our intelligence indicates the island that was destroyed was used as a base of operations by one Dr. Drakken, aka Drew Lipsky." The leader looked at the photograph in the file as the intelligence member continued with the biography. "Textbook case of a highly intelligent outcast turning to criminal activity for revenge. History of conflict with one Kim Possible and Global Justice, along with minor altercations with certain other criminal types. Ingenious with electromagnetic wave based weaponry, but a serious lack of planning and tactical abilities."

"Why is he blue?"

"Apparently one of his many failed attempts at world conquest went wrong during the testing phase, leaving him with that unique coloring."

The leader raised an eyebrow at that. "And now this Dr. Drakken has the capacity to produce and weaponize antimatter? Why hasn't Global Justice done away with this threat?"

"We don't know. One guess would be they don't have the fortitude to eliminate him outside of legal channels, and he escapes before those channels can utilized. It may not matter, as our latest information placed him on the island at the time of the explosion."

"Good. Can we confirm that?"

"Not with certainty. We are trying to get some sort of confirmation."

"How?"

The intelligence member pushed another file towards the leader, who opened it to find a photograph of a dark haired, green skinned woman. "This woman is the reason Dr. Drakken usually escapes before he's even charged. Only known name is Shego. We don't know if it is her real name or an alias. Once a member of Team Go with her four brothers. At some point she changed sides, and eventually ended up in the employment of Drakken. From what we know about them from GJ and Kim Possible, she's more of a partner/sidekick than henchman. We believe that if anyone knows where he was and if he's still alive, it will be her. But we have to move quickly."

The leader nodded. "We won't be the only ones interested in Drakken's work, and therefore this green girl." He picked up the photo again. "How do we know she wasn't with him on the island when it blew up?"

"A woman matching her description, except for the green color, was strip searched at Miami International Airport earlier today. A biometric analysis of the video from the airport security cameras confirmed that it was her. It is reasonable to assume she has some way of altering her skin color. She had a flight to Go City, which is where Team Go is based. We believe that she might be visiting them."

"Alright, that's where we start. Anything else I should know before I start putting people in the field on this?"

The intelligence representative cleared his throat. "I believe you should caution them about this woman. She is quite dangerous in hand to hand combat. We really don't know what her goals are, especially now that her employer is gone. It is entirely possible that she might have had something to do with his apparent demise, and even if she didn't she might not be willing to talk to us. She might even side with our enemies."

"I agree caution is in order," the leader began, "but let's find out more about her and her motivations before we start planning her funeral. If that is all?" The other two participants nodded in agreement. "Very well, we have someone to find." As the other two left, the leader pondered the picture in his hand. You better hope we find you before they do, lady...

More to come...


	6. Pawn to King four

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter Six: Pawn to King Four

Disclaimer: Kim, Ron, Drakken, Shego, Team Go, and any other characters you've seen on the show are property of Disney. Original characters and the plot are my creations. No money was made from the writing of this work of fiction.

--

Shego slowly climbed out of the haze that was sleep. She wished more than anything that it had all been a dream, and that Drakken would be down the hall, ranting about how his latest plan was foolproof. Two days ago, she would have done anything to shut up his constant chatter.

Now she would do or give anything just to see him one more time.

No matter how badly she wanted to just pull up the covers and ignore the world, the wariness bred by years of hiding from the authorities and sneaking into places where she didn't belong forced her to study her surroundings. She immediately noticed she wasn't in the rumpus room. She quickly figured it out, since she had slept there the night before. She really hadn't paid attention to it then because it had been a long day, and she was preoccupied with thoughts of abusing Hego and Mego for their negligence concerning the twins.

From the green and black decor down to her pewter dragon collection on the dresser, her room was perfectly preserved. There was no dust or mustiness normally associated with a long abandoned room. Someone had been keeping it clean and fresh, as if she might stroll back into the tower like nothing had ever happened. Though she had told them she was done with them, that she was in fact evil, they had obviously never given up on her.

As Shego was processing all of this and getting her bearings, she noticed something else; she wasn't alone. At the foot of her bed were two sleeping forms, one on either side of her legs. The twins were curled up with her, snoring softly in the fading evening light.

Shego thought she might know just who had kept her room ready for her return, and a warm feeling grew in her heart to challenge the cold left by Drakken's sudden exit from her life.

No, I'm not this sappy. I'm stronger than this. I'm not gonna be suckered by some touchy feely family crap... She paused and remembered exactly how she'd come to be in her current situation. Yeah, and I don't break down when I lose someone, either. She quietly got up, doing her best not to disturb the slumbering boys, and got a large blanket from her closet. Returning to the bed, she slid between her brothers, spreading the blanket over the three of them, and hugged them close. As she did, one of them stirred slightly and looked at her.

"Shego? Are you...?"

She gave him a wane little smile and a nod. "I'm okay." She didn't know if he was Wego I or Wego II; she had been gone so long she couldn't really tell them apart anymore.

"What happened? Why'd you freak?"

Shego really didn't want to talk about it yet. "It was just some bad news. Nothing to worry about now, okay? Let's just go back to sleep; I'm still tired. I'll tell you about it later."

Wego I or II, whichever it might have been, wasn't fully awake, and going back to sleep seemed like a good idea. "Okay, if you're sure you're alright..."

This time the smile was accompanied by a hug and a kiss on the younger boy's forehead. "Yeah, little brother, big sis is okay."

Openly showing affection for someone you care about might not seem like a big step. Maybe it wasn't. But as the old oriental proverb said, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Perhaps the size of the step didn't matter as much as the direction it took her.

--

Drew – or rather Andrè – was enjoying himself for what might have been the first time in his life. It had been a week since he had flamboyantly ended his old life and started anew, and in that time he had finally managed to relax. After he had set up his finances at a local branch of an international bank, he had located a small beach house and obtained a six month lease. It was furnished and had everything he really needed. Once he found a few clothing shops that catered to tourists, he replenished his wardrobe. The old blue lab coat and gloves simply wouldn't do, and he needed a fresh look. The problem was that most of those clothes were now dirty, and needed to be washed.

And so he found himself face to face with the first real challenge of his new existence. "I have constructed death rays, hovercraft, and devices beyond your imagining. You have no chance against me. You will bend to my will..." Drew lifted the lid of the washing machine. "... right after I read the instructions." It was nice to deal with problems that didn't have dire consequences for failure. Besides, laying in a hammock, enjoying an ocean breeze with a drink in your hand, and generally basking in laziness can get old after a while. To change things around a bit, he had purchased a cookbook, some top of the line culinary utensils, a wide range of foodstuffs, and a large supply of some pink liquid to sooth his stomach when the cooking attempts inevitably went wrong. While the washer completed its duties, Drew retreated to the kitchen to pursue his new hobby.

After a half hour or so, which amounted to the first chapter explaining basic cooking terms and concepts, the buzzer sounded to indicate the wash was done and ready to go to the dryer. Immediately he saw that something had gone wrong. "Why is everything pink? It was all white when I started..." Finally, he located the culprit; a pair of his favorite boxers. With red hearts on them. "NNNGGGG... Drat!" He gave the washer an exasperated look. "You may have won this time, but this isn't over." He looked at the mass of pink socks, t-shirts, and underwear before him, shaking his head. "I believe it is time for some 'out sourcing'..."

--

There were definitely cultural differences. In the States, the phone book of any city larger than a postage stamp had maid services in the yellow pages. Here in Belize, the phone book consisted of pamphlet sized item in Spanish which Drew could not read. Plan B consisted of asking the small agency that leased his abode where he might find such help. All they could tell him was that there were no agencies supplying such services anywhere in the city, but that the women who worked at the tourist hotels sometimes needed extra money.

The directions they gave took Drew through the town's residential district, which wasn't the most upscale of places. Most of the looks he got were merely suspicious, but a few were blatantly hostile. In fact, he found himself wishing he had even the questionable protection of some of his former henchmen, or even better Shego's company.

There it was again, thoughts of Shego sneaking up on him. He wondered how her visit with her brothers had gone, and if she had made it to Australia yet. Probably 'toasting' on a beach, with every red blooded male in sight fawning over her. He tried to focus on his surroundings. Better pay attention to what's going on around me, or I'll disappear for real. His plan for getting a maid was simple; find a hotel, talk to the manager or whoever was in charge of the cleaning staff, and ask them if anyone was interested in some extra work. When he arrived, however, he found a scene of villainy that would have disgusted even Jack Hench. The manager, or at least a man of some authority judging by the suit he wore, had just thrown a woman holding a small child to the ground in front of the hotel, while yelling something in Spanish and spitting on the ground near her. "Somehow I don't think I want to have any dealings with him," Drew muttered to himself. He had no connection to the woman or her child, but seeing them treated so callously angered him. "Are you alright?" He offered the woman a hand. If I ruled the world, such things would never happen, he thought to himself.

"Si, si, alright. Gracias, senor."

"What was that all about? Should we call the authorities?"

"He is the authorities. That was his way of saying I am fired."

Drew did a quick reset of his assumptions. "Ah, you speak English. Good, because I can't speak Spanish at all. You're sure you're okay? What about the child?" He looked at the child in her arms, now that he could see the little girl better. She appeared to be no more than five or six years old. "Do you need anything?"

"Only a job, senor. Do you know anyone who needs a cleaning lady?"

Drew lifted an eyebrow. "Actually I just might..."

--

At Middleton High School, many students were hanging out at their lockers as they always did before school. It was promising to be an easy day. It was late in the semester, and there was a three day weekend coming up. There would probably be some homework, since the teachers would be trying to make sure the students would do something to start preparing for the approaching finals, but nothing like the normal deluge of reading and other assignments.

One pair in particular seemed to be looking forward to the break. The blond haired, somewhat goofy looking boy was in a good mood. A really good mood. A long weekend, not much to do, the villains were all quiet, and red haired, green eyed cheerleader beside him was his girlfriend. Those wondrous green eyes now looked at him and he could see love looking back at him. Not that dumbstruck infatuation that she had when she used to look at that Mankey dude, but love. The together forever, can't stand to be apart, got each others back no matter what happens kind of love.

Kim had finished putting her books in her locker, and signed off from the small computer that gave her an update on the state of the world. "Okay Ron... ready for class?" She tossed her book bag over her shoulder and put her hand in his. "Better yet, ready for the big dinner this weekend?"

Ron squeezed her hand in his, and looked around the hall to make sure no teachers were in sight. "You betcha, KP. This weekend is gonna be so great. And do you know why?"

"Because you get to sleep in?"

"No... Well, yeah," Ron pulled his flame haired girlfriend closer. "But mostly because we can do this a lot." And with that, he planted a lingering, tender kiss on her lips. She pulled closer to him, heart pounding, her breath quickening, and started to wrap her free arm around him when he broke the kiss. "Oh you did not just pull away from me, Ron Stoppable..."

Ron cleared his throat and gestured behind Kim with his eyes at the teacher that had just appeared in the hallway. "Oh," Kim said quietly.

Mr.Barkin, assistant principal and utility substitute teacher, noticed the two teens standing close to one another next to the locker. A little too close in his opinion. "Possible! Stoppable! I want to see daylight between you two! You don't want to start off your weekend with detention, do you?"

"No, Mr. Barkin," the two answered with one contrite voice.

"Then I suggest the two of you show some motivation and find your way to your first class. Now!"

"Yes Mr. Barkin!" Ron and Kim again answered in tandem as they hustled off towards their first class. "Whoa, that was close, KP!" Ron glanced sideways as he struggled to keep up with his lady.

"You're not out of the woods yet, Ron."

"Nah, we're cool as long as we don't stop and try it again. Mr. Barkin has our first class today, and no way will he beat us there."

"That's not what I meant. You do not start a kiss like that and think you're not gonna finish it..." Kim had a look that was part teasing, and part serious. Ron couldn't decide which made him more nervous.

The rest of the morning went without incident. Unless you count Ron's worrying over exactly what his suddenly smolderingly flirtatious girlfriend had in mind by 'finishing' that kiss. Now Ron had no problem with going to the next level. In theory. In reality, he had visions of space probes and black holes. And even if Mr. Dr. P was joking about that part of it, there were enough other complications to make it a bad idea right now. But Kim was smart, and he was positive she didn't want to rush things any more than he did.

Mostly positive.

Kim stayed very close to Ron during lunch. Nothing worthy of detention, but you couldn't have fit a piece of paper between the two of them the entire time. She could tell that he was getting nervous, because he didn't know just how far she was going with this whole thing. I'm not stupid, she thought to herself as she scooted close enough to Ron to touch hips. I'm not going to let things go that far. Kim glanced at her furiously blushing boyfriend. That doesn't mean I'm going to let him know that. I'll make it up to him later, but right now I'm having too much fun! Besides, I owe him one for getting me worked up with that kiss this morning.

Ron, usually the first to finish any given meal, was so distracted that his pet naked mole rat Rufus finished most of the food. During school Rufus usually laid low in the pocket of Ron's cargo pants, but lunchtime drew him out to share a meal with his human friends, and there was usually a race between the two to see who got the most. Ron wasn't trying today. Not only was it substandard cafeteria slop, but he was silently trying to deal with Kim's new attitude towards public displays of affection. He was not the most adaptable of people; his preferred method of handling change was to fly apart so that everyone had to dodge the debris. That usually gave him enough time to hide, escape, or get behind someone else. This wouldn't work with Kim, however. Not only was she familiar with his tactics, but he really didn't want to escape or hide from her. Also he began to suspect that Kim was playing with his mind as payback for that morning kiss. It was good to know that he could have the same effect on her that she had on him.

The bell rang, bringing an end to lunch and the speculations of the two lovestruck teens. They began making their way to class, walking down the hallway with their arms touching. Their great moods lasted until they entered the classroom.

Mr. Barkin was waiting for them.

"Glad you two could put aside your little displays of affection and make it to class on time. Now take your seats. And for the next hour, you will pay attention to me, not each other." The final bell rang, indicating that class was now in session. True to form, the lesson started immediately.

Of course, at that moment the trademark jingle came from Kim's backpack. Beep-beep-be-beep. She blushed and looked apologetically at Mr. Barkin, who was staring a hole through her. "I suppose you will want to take that. In the hall preferably," he said through clenched teeth.

"Yes, Mr. Barkin. Sorry about this."

"Don't be sorry, Possible. Just take this interruption outside." It's a good thing she's a dedicated student, or she'd never make up all the assignments she misses. Stoppable, on the other hand, required a bit more prodding to get his work done. "And Stoppable..."

Ron looked at him with dread. "Yes, sir?"

"Just to make sure you come back to get the work you're missing, I have two words for you. Summer. School. Understood?"

"Understood, Sir."

Once out in the hallway, she hit the answer button on the Kimmunicator. "What's the sitch, Wade? I know you wouldn't call during BARKIN'S class without good reason..." A hint of annoyance colored her voice.

"Oh, it's important, Kim," said the short, roundish African American boy on the screen. "It's Motor Ed." The humor that normally characterized his face was nowhere to be seen.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Motor Ed? Aw come on, Wade. What did he do, steal a new high tech fuel injector? Demand the Governor of New Jersey get a mullet haircut?"

Kim smiled, but cut her wise cracking boyfriend short. "Ron, focus. Alright, Wade, what did he do?"

"He's dead."

To be continued...


	7. Stories from Beyond the Grave

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter Seven: Stories from Beyond the Grave

Disclaimer: All characters are Disney's.. except the ones you don't see in the series. The ideas are mine. All mine, you hear?! Not that they're worth anything... It's all about fun, right? SO DON'T SUE ME! end rant

--

"Dead?" The two teens spoke in unison. Normally that would have resulted in Kim saying "Jinx, you owe me a soda," but it just didn't seem appropriate this time. Even Rufus, now sitting on Ron's shoulder, seemed stunned. In all their adventures the teens had never actually had to deal with death. In fact, neither had experienced a death of a friend or family member; they had been lucky. Kim recovered first. "Are you sure, Wade?" She wasn't really convinced that Drakken and Shego had been on that island when it exploded; the fact that neither had been heard from since then didn't prove anything. She wouldn't be surprised if the two showed up tomorrow with some bizarre scheme for world conquest.

"Yeah. Local police found the bodies first, then called in GJ when they saw it was Motor Ed. They've got the crime scene sealed off, but they confirmed the identities with DNA matches. They were all killed, Kim. Motor Ed, his 'pit crew', everybody. Even his hair stylist. It must have been pretty nasty, because Dr. Director told me if I hacked into their network to see the pictures she was going to personally smash every computer I have."

Ron, for a change, actually had a reasonable question. "Any ideas on who did it?"

"No, but Dr. Director seems to think it was a very professional job. Not much in the way of forensic evidence left, but like I said she won't even let me see pictures of the scene. Kim, this doesn't sound like anyone we've ever faced. Either someone has snapped..."

"Or, we have a new, nastier player joining the game." Kim sighed. She had been hoping for a break from the freak fighting since her relationship with Ron had gotten serious. She wanted more quality time with him to do actual boyfriend/girlfriend things. It was also time to start thinking about college and entrance exams and what path she wanted to follow in life, and when Drakken's lair went up in a fireball, she thought things might slow down. Her personal theory was that the explosion was a cover; after his last scheme caused so much destruction worldwide, Drakken was on the top of virtually every 'most wanted' list in the world, and he was trying to lay low until the heat was off.

Ron's eyebrows knitted together, and he tilted his head to one side, like a puppy that had seen something it couldn't quite figure out. "Well, if we don't know who did it, and don't even have any clues, then what's the mission, Wade?"

"Wow, Ron. That's the second good question in a row." Wade smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Dr. Director wants you to come to a meeting of the senior agents of Global Justice. She thinks this new player is a serious threat, and wants to make sure everyone is up to speed. She also thinks you might be able to help figure out who murdered Motor Ed, since you had more encounters with him than GJ did."

"We're there," Kim said. "Got us a ride lined up?"

"Of course. GJ helicopter should be out front in about five minutes. I'll make arrangements with your teachers to get your assignments for the rest of the day."

"Please and thank you. And once again you rock, Wade."

"All part of the service, Kim." The monitor went dark. With the Kimmunicator and the locker computer, Wade was never really out of touch with his teen hero friends, so he never felt the need to say 'goodbye' or even an informal 'later'.

As Kim closed her locker and headed for the front door, she noticed her boyfriend's expression was less than happy. "What's up, Ron? You normally can't wait to ditch school for a mission."

"A mission, yeah, but this time we're just going to some boring meeting. It'll be worse than Mr. Barkin's class!"

"Sometimes, the biggest part of a mission is brain work, Ron."

"Aww man, this tanks." As he walked by his girlfriend, a stray thought managed to bypass his internal censor and jump right out of his mouth. "If they want the brains in the meeting, why aren't they bringing Wade instead of us?"

The halls of the school echoed with the sound of a pair of size seven girls shoes squelching to a sudden halt. Rufus made an emergency exit, hiding in his normal pocket, but this time pulling it tightly closed.

"Care to rephrase that, RON?"

Belatedly, the alarms went off inside his mind. He turned to see Kim staring at him with her green eyes. Her very, very hard green eyes. While his mind rewound his last comment, he looked at her hair, and noted that in the right light, it really did look like she had a halo of flame around her. As he realized what he had said, and then what was implied by his comment, he thought that she looked like she might set him on fire momentarily, unless he begged shamelessly and groveled. Some gratuitous flattery wouldn't hurt either. As he began to back towards the door, he raised his hands in a futile gesture, knowing he wouldn't last fifteen seconds if she actually wanted to deck him. "Uh... heh... what I meant was, why would GJ want to leave out Wade when he is such a valuable support genius..."

A muffled voice came from Kim's backpack where she had stored the Kimmunicator. "Hey, I heard that!"

"... but now that I think about it, sending two such geniuses would just be overkill, right?" Ron was sweating slightly now, still backing towards the door and the escape that now appeared to be necessary.

Kim, arms crossed, eyes rolled towards the ceiling, had a lopsided smile on her lips. "Ron, you are so weird. But you're my boyfriend, and I love you. Even when your mouth outruns your brain. Now let's get to the chopper before you get the other foot stuck in your mouth."

"Ah, my gracious Kim, you are as forgiving as you are beautiful!"

"Who said anything about forgiving you yet? We'll talk about that on the chopper..."

--

The trip to GJ headquarters, location classified, took less than an hour. The pilot felt that it had been a rather uneventful trip, which could be attributed to his absolute concentration on flying the helicopter in a professional manner; it had allowed him to be totally unaware of the make out session in the rear passenger seats.

The woman standing beside the helo pad noticed immediately that the two teens were anything but idle during the flight. Dr. Betty Director, Global Justice's highest ranking member, didn't rise to her position by missing obvious clues. "Ms. Possible. Mr. Stoppable. Welcome to Global Justice Headquarters. I trust your flight wasn't too... boring?"

With an act of incredible willpower, Kim managed to keep a blush from reaching her face. "It was fine, Dr. Director. We managed to pass the time. We were... uhm... studying. You know. Tests coming up."

"Indeed. What subjects?"

Ron piped up with his usual impeccable timing. "Biology." An elbow to the ribs cut off anything else he might have said.

"Of course. A very... important subject. I'm sure you will do well on the exams."

Ron managed an innocent look as he scanned the sky for stray birds, totally ignoring the glare coming from Kim.

"I'm glad you were able to come to this meeting. If you will follow me, we're about to start." She turned and led the teens to the roof access elevator and pushed the call button. The door opened almost immediately, and the older woman stepped aside and gestured for her guests to enter. She stepped in right behind them, facing the door and pushing the button for the appropriate floor. "I must confess that I was a little uneasy about you two attending this function. Partly I was concerned about taking you away from yet more school and classwork, but apparently you have your 'studies' well... in hand."

No act of will could keep the blush from Kim's cheeks now. It was all she could do to keep it from spreading to her entire face and throat. She grabbed Ron's arm and tried to hide behind him, which was an unusual reversal of their roles.

"Mostly," she continued, "I was worried about the material you're about to see. It isn't something I would normally allow. Things are changing in the criminal world, however. We've been seeing evidence of something large scale and well organized. If you two are going to continue with your activities then you need to know what is involved. You two have come a long way in a short time, and in many ways are much more mature than your friends. You at least need to know enough to make a decision about your futures in Global Justice and law enforcement." Dr. Director pushed the stop button and turned to face the teens. "That doesn't mean that you're adults yet. There are things you shouldn't be engaged in at this point in your lives. I can see that you two care deeply for each other, and have been together for most of your lives. Just how far you two want to take your 'studies' is between the two of you, with the advice of your parents and other people you trust, and none of my business. However, I would hate to see two promising operatives have their careers cut short because of an unexpected addition to Team Possible. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ron's voice was a little nervous, but clear. Kim's was muffled, since she was still hiding her face behind Ron's shoulder.

"Good. Now that we have that out of the way, we can move on to the real unpleasantness." The elevator resumed as she released the stop button and turned once more towards the front. "By the way, Mr. Stoppable, that shade of lipstick doesn't really suit you."

"Huh?"

"Your 'studies' left some lipstick on your face. I suggest you remove it before you have to answer any more questions."

A hand came from behind him, holding a tissue. "Ah, thanks KP." Ron wiped away the evidence of their activities.

The inside of the elevator wasn't mirrored, so the teens couldn't see the slight smirk on Betty Director's lips. I wonder if they know how lucky they are to have each other?

--

Once they saw the pictures of the crime scene, Kim and Ron both decided that they would much rather spend the day answering uncomfortable questions about their relationship and extracurricular activities. As traumatic as that might have been, it was a walk in the park compared to the horrible crime scene photos. Most of Motor Ed's entourage had been bound, forced to kneel, and executed with head shots. The remaining few had been dismembered in grisly fashion. It appeared that they had been used to force cooperation from Motor Ed himself, who had been chained to a wall. Their deaths had not been enough to satisfy the ones responsible judging by the condition of his corpse. Kim was much too concerned with keeping her stomach under control to notice much detail, but it was obvious that the torture had been prolonged and very brutal. Ron, for all his experience with gore filled movies and video games, wasn't faring any better. He had a noticeably green tint to his face, and for once had absolutely no appetite whatsoever.

Rufus handled it best of all; he simply hid in Ron's pocket and refused to come out.

Dr. Director had been noting the details of the torture, explaining that torture techniques from around the world were in evidence, most of which were thought to be unique to various unrelated groups. The fact that they were combined was another indication that something big was happening. "We either have a new organization at work, or an old organization – or perhaps several – is using new strategies and forming alliances that previously didn't exist."

Kim, who finally felt like she could open her mouth without sending her lunch all over the floor, asked a question in a slightly quavering voice. "Dr. Director, do you think they got what they wanted? Do we have any idea about what it was they were after?"

"We really don't know, on either count. We can't even be sure that Mr. Lipsky had the information or item that his captors sought. The cause of death, in spite of the numerous injuries, was the gunshot to the head. That would seem to indicate either he gave them what they wanted, or they decided he didn't have whatever it was. We do think that these people were looking for information. The garage that Lipsky used as a 'lair' wasn't touched, except for a desk and a computer. If it had been a physical item, they would most likely have ransacked the entire place looking for it."

Ron, still green, managed to make an observation. "So, we don't know who we're dealing with, what they were after, or even if they got it?"

Dr. Director glared at him for a moment, then her eyes softened as she gave a resigned sigh. "That, Mr. Stoppable," she said as she closed her eyes, "is a very succinct way of putting it. We need to keep our eyes open and our minds sharp. A few prayers and a little luck wouldn't hurt, either."

--

For the first time in her adult life, Shego was glad she had a family. All thoughts of continuing on to Australia and the vacation she had planned were forgotten. In the past week, she had been subjected to more stress and shock than in the previous four or five years. She was more than simply off balance or shell shocked. She had already broken down once, and was terrified it might happen again. She sorely needed someone to unload her frustrations upon. So, after some thought, she found a use for her previously useless elder brothers. They would become 'Lightning Rod' and 'Scratching Post.' It didn't really matter which was which; they were interchangeable. It was a perfect situation; when she felt the need to explore the loving side of her personality, she found the twins. When she was irritated, anxious, cranky, or just needed some exercise, she chased her older brothers around the tower. She felt it was a good solution for everyone involved.

Hego and Mego might have disagreed, but no one was listening to them.

After one particularly athletic discussion with Mego concerning self absorbed morons and their need to get a clue, Team Go found itself in need of a new large screen plasma television. In spite of the fact that the word 'plasma' was in the name, it was curiously vulnerable to plasma damage. By a strange coincidence, neither plasma damage nor 'Acts of Shego' were covered in the warranty. The whole family decided that since she broke it, she should buy the new one.

Hego she could ignore.

Mego she could ignore.

The twins, she couldn't ignore. Hego and Mego refused to spring for a replacement, and the twins had pleaded with her to agree to get a new one. The old Shego would have laughed at their offers of breakfast in bed, laundry service, and general servitude. She would have scoffed at their promises to behave and study hard. She would have ignored their attempts for days or weeks, if necessary.

The new Shego lasted less than ten minutes.

As she sat at the computer, comparing online reviews and muttering about treacherous little brothers, she realized that she was looking at a fairly substantial outlay of money. I should still have a fair amount of cash in my accounts. But that money isn't exactly from legitimate sources... Shego thought about it for a minute, and decided that whatever changes she wanted to make in her life didn't have to happen all at once. They want a new TV, they can't ask too many questions about the finances. I better see how much I have. And check my email. I haven't checked it since... She closed her eyes. I'm not gonna loose it again. He's gone. I'm still here. He said I should try to enjoy my family, and I can't do that if I'm a basket case. She sighed. As she stared at the screen, she realized that she really was enjoying being with her brothers. Even the chasing and arguing was fun. I know the twins are happy I'm back. Hego seems to like having the family together, even if I did refuse to rejoin the team. Mego... Well, I'm not sure he can think of anything but himself, but he's not avoiding me. She smiled and typed in the website address for her personal bank accounts. Maybe I can spring for the big model with all the bells and whistles. While she entered user names, passwords, and security codes, she brought up the email program in the background. She was a little surprised when she saw the new message in her mailbox. "Wha... who would send a video?" She clicked open the file, and her breath caught in her throat.

"Shego, if you are hearing this, then it means something has gone wrong, and you have survived me. An experiment I have been planning most likely went terribly wrong, as usual. I have tried to anticipate all the potential hazards, but even so it is not without significant risk. That is why I decided to clear the island as I make the attempt. I can live with my own mistakes, Shego, but I can't allow you to be hurt by them any longer. I hope that this will work, and that I can inform you of my new plans when you return, but apparently that has not been the case. I meant every word I said to you about family; salvage all of it that you can. You are a smart woman, and you certainly don't need advice from me. I hope you will find a way to be happy.

I want to apologize to you, Shego, for all the times you have been captured or injured because of my folly. I owe you my life many times over – far more than I could ever count or repay. You have been the one person I could count on to be there for me. In fact, you know me better than any other person in the world, including my mother. You probably realized long ago that I was never going to actually take over the world. I admitted it to myself only recently. Maybe the way to get revenge upon those who mocked me in college would be to make my mark in a positive way – something that changes the world for the better. That is what my experiment could achieve. I won't bore you with details. I know you don't much care for the technical aspects, but if it works, then you and I could change history, and then retire to enjoy life."

The image of the blue man stared through the screen and into Shego's soul. "I don't know if you will... uhm, would have joined me in this. Maybe evil plots are what you like. Maybe, if I'm gone, you will join Dementor or Gemini. They, at least, have promise. But I hope you will understand what I am telling you. What others think of you doesn't matter nearly as much as what you think of yourself. If you can find something that really makes you happy, that is the best way to get back at everyone who taunts you."

"I have left enough money in your account to make sure you can do whatever you want, financially at least. Mostly it was your hard work that earned it anyway, so it's rightfully yours. Enjoy."

"Be well, Shego. Be safe. Be happy."

The video ended there, leaving a picture of Drew "Dr. Drakken" Lipsky on the screen. Her eyes burning with tears she refused to shed, Shego touched the image with her fingertips. "At least I did get to hear your voice one more time..." She closed her eyes, and one single tear fell from each eye. That was all she would allow. Not because she was Shego, and Shego didn't cry. That was garbage. She didn't cry because it was simply a waste of time. The pain she felt in her heart was real enough; she didn't need to show the world how much it ached. Only now, when she had lost him, did she realize how much Drakken had meant to her. He had been the one constant in her life since leaving her family. For all his foolishness, he never left her. Granted he had never really been effective or helpful, but he always tried. In all their time together, not once had she said or done anything to make his life happier. No, not her; not the sarcastic, violent Shego.

She would never have the chance to make it up to him.

But there were four people that apparently cared for her who were still around. She could start over with them. And maybe, in some small way, that would also be honoring Drakken's memory. It was basically his last wish, after all.

Sniffing a little, she looked at her bank account balance. There was enough in it to remodel the entire tower, and still have enough left to buy a small island. "Wow. Who knew he had that much stashed?" Her mind made up, she returned to the site where she had seen a monstrous high definition plasma television, with pretty much every option known to technology. It was even bigger than the one she had shattered while chasing Mego. As a bonus, she added a top of the line home theatre system to her online shopping cart, and checked out after authorizing her bank to allow the transaction. She was enough of a hacker to know what precautions were needed.

Shego switched off the computer, and headed to her room. She needed to think. The television would be a good opening for her apology to her brothers, but there were things she needed to say to them as well. She wasn't the type to just ad lib; she wanted to have a firm idea of how to say what she felt. The delivery date was a week away, so she could take her time and plan it out.

After all, since she was sticking around, there would be plenty of time to spend with her brothers, wouldn't there?

To be continued...


	8. Intersecting Paths

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter 8: Intersecting Paths

Disclaimer: Don't own KP, RS, Drakken, Shego, or any other character from the series Kim Possible, nor am I making any money off this. Based on the number of reviews I'm getting, it wouldn't be much anyway...

--

Kim and Ron were enjoying the big Possible/Stoppable combined family cookout, the last chance of the year for grilling outside. The two families enjoyed spending time together, but schedules and different religious holidays made it challenging. When fate conspired to allow such gatherings, nothing was spared to make the occasion memorable. Also, since this was the first opportunity for a get together since the two teens officially started dating, there was an element of celebration to the event. The couple really didn't understand why their parents were so happy about their 'making it official', but they weren't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. They just wanted to enjoy being with their families and each other. The lull in criminal activity had continued, and expectations were high for a pleasant, uninterrupted evening.

"This is the life, KP. The most bon-diggity girlfriend in the world, not one but two sets of cool parents, and steaks on the grill. Even the bad guys are on vacation. The Ron Man is happy!" Rufus added a squeaky "Uh huh uh huh! Good day!" from his perch on the blond boy's shoulder.

"You said it, Rufus. This is one spankin' day. But don't talk about the bad guys, Ron, or you'll..." She was interrupted by the four notes of her Kimmunicator, and sighed. "Jinx it." She unenthusiastically pulled the device from her pocket and hit a button. "Hey Wade. What's the sitch, and can it wait until tomorrow?"

Wade raised an eyebrow at Kim's greeting. "Nice to know that you're glad to see me."

"Sorry Wade, but we're having a cookout, and it's been a really great day. And as for 'glad to see you', perhaps you remember me begging you and your parents to join us, but you didn't want to leave your room?"

The super genius managed to look slightly embarrassed. "Kim, you know I have severe agoraphobia. It's all I can do to handle being in a holographic image of the outside world."

Kim sighed again. She remembered the one time he had come out of his room was to get revenge on a rival superhero team that had spiked his entire computer system. After his anger had worn off, he almost went catatonic with fear, and needed two weeks of therapy to return to normal. "Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean I can't wish you were here with the rest of the team, right?"

Wade smiled. "I know. No need to get mushy. Save that for Ron. Anyway, you can relax. No mission today. But Dr. Director has one for tomorrow."

"And what does she want us to do?"

"Yeah," Ron peaked over Kim's shoulder to add in his comments. "Why do the paid professionals keep asking for help from us non-profit freelancers?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "Uh, because we get the job done when they can't?"

"Exactly," Wade agreed. "Besides, I think you'll want to go on this mission. It's in Go City."

"And why are we going there?"

"To see some 'friends' at Go Tower. They recently added a new resident."

Kim and Ron looked at each other, then looked back at the boy on the screen, waiting for him to continue.

"Shego's back."

Kim would have said some very unladylike things had her parents not been around, but she settled for a growl. "I knew she wasn't gone. I bet Drakken's out there planning something right now!"

It was Ron's turn to sigh. "I guess the vacation's over."

--

As Drew waited patiently outside the door of the only bathroom in the beach house, he pondered why he had invited Luisa and her daughter Maria to stay with him as part of her benefits. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but then most of my plans fall into that category, he thought to himself as he unfolded the newspaper.

It wasn't that he minded the company. Luisa was a hard worker, and she was a pleasant person to have around. She even helped him learn some very basic Spanish. Maria was every bit as nice as her mother, and was so well mannered that Drew initially thought something might be wrong with her. She was definitely a contrast to the other children he had encountered.

Having women in the house wasn't an issue either. After all, he had lived with Shego for several years, and she was much less understanding about his faults and idiosyncrasies. For that matter, Shego was much more vocal in general than was Luisa.

The problem was the bathroom.

Shego had always had her own, and the henchmen used a community bathroom, leaving Drew his own private facility. Now, with two other people in a small house, he had to share. It was definitely a learning experience.

The first time he had seen various bits of hand wash only underwear hanging in there, he blushed so badly that Luisa had offered to get the sunburn cream.

Another problem was scheduling. He would never have believed just how much time someone could spend in a bathroom. Luisa didn't seem to wear any make-up, nor did she have the usual assortment of creams, moisturizers, and such that most women refused to live without, yet she could be in there for what seemed like hours. Even little Maria managed to spend an inexplicable amount of time in there.

He almost asked them what they could possibly be doing in there, but decided against it. They just might answer, and he wasn't at all sure he could handle that knowledge. Besides, he didn't want to run off the best housekeeper he could find. He enjoyed having the woman and little girl around. Women are strange and exotic creatures, he thought to himself. Definitely worth studying. He turned to the 'news from home' section of his paper, which was an English language edition for the tourists frequenting the area. One report caught his attention.

Edward 'Motor Ed' Lipsky Found Dead

Edward Lipsky, AKA Motor Ed, mechanical

engineer and notorious criminal, was found murdered

in an apparent Mafia style execution along with his

entourage. No details were available about motives

or suspects at this time.

Poor Ed, thought Drew. What a way to go. I'm glad I decided to get out of that life. Drew never really knew his cousin, but the thought of a relative meeting a violent end bothered him. I do hope Shego gets out before something happens to her.

--

As fate would have it, at almost that precise instant Shego was reading an identical news report in the Go City Tribune. Since 'the incident,' as she referred to Drakken's destruction, she had taken to getting up early. Mostly it was because she simply didn't sleep very well anymore, but there was also a part of her mind that wanted to see the day begin. A side benefit of her early rising was an uncontested first shot at the newspaper. She had been idly browsing through it, waiting for the rest of the family to awaken, when she had spotted the article on Motor Ed. The only time she had spent around Ed Lipsky was during the failed attempt to steal and copy a cyber-robotic wheelchair owned by a friend of Kim Possible. In many ways Ed had been a lot like Drakken. In their particular fields they were both absolute geniuses. Drakken was unmatched in electromagnetic fields and radiation, and Ed was a master of mechanical construction. Get either one outside their specialty, however, and their skill level took a nosedive.

And now they're both dead; one from an experiment he couldn't control, the other from some gang he couldn't handle. Mama Lipsky, then Drakken, now Motor Ed. The Lipsky section of the cemetery is getting crowded... But there's always more room, isn't there? Before Shego's thoughts could turn too morbid, the twin Wegos made their appearance. They performed what had become a morning ritual once she had decided to stay at the Tower; they walked over to where she sat at the table and kissed her above each eye. She hugged them both, kissing their foreheads in turn. "So guys, what are you planning on making for breakfast this morning?" She had taken up the twins on one of their offers in exchange for her replacing the television: they would be making her breakfast for one week. Not only would it give the twins a feeling that they had done something to do earn the huge monstrosity, but they would learn to cook safely under her supervision. After her first night at the tower, and seeing the disastrous dinner they had attempted to prepare, she felt such lessons were definitely needed.

"We're going to try omelets this morning," stated the first Wego. "Yeah, it isn't quite as messy as the pancake batter," added Wego II. It had taken a rather long heart to heart talk with the twins, and a graphic description of the migraine headache their odd speech patterns caused, but Shego had gotten them to talk somewhat normally. There were still relapses, especially when they were excited, but they were trying. Shego could ask no more than that. They're really gonna slip when that TV shows up this afternoon, she thought to herself. Heck, even I'm looking forward to seeing it. It certainly cost enough.

As the twins gathered eggs and other ingredients for the morning meal, Hego and Mego found their way into the kitchen. Hego was his normal cheerful self, a morning person through and through. "Good morning, all. How is everyone today?"

"I need coffee. Lots of coffee." Mego, unlike his brothers, was clearly not a morning person. "A good breakfast wouldn't hurt either," he continued as he noticed the Wego's preparation of omelets.

Shego snorted at her self-centered brother's comment. "What, the great Mego can't cook for himself?"

"Hey, it's good practice for the twins, right? I'm just trying to help out with their education."

"Uh huh. Any excuse is good when you need one, right? There's coffee already made, still pretty fresh. Morning, Hego. Don't have to kill the eggs, guys, just a tap or two on the bowl is enough, remember?"

"Yes, Shego," the twins sounded in stereo. One was cracking the eggs, while the other was chopping up bell peppers and slicing ham.

"And be careful with that knife. I don't want a finger in my omelet."

Whatever reply the twins might have made was drowned out by a loud computer generated voice. "Attention. Global Justice aircraft approaching. ETA five minutes, thirty seconds."

Shego immediately became suspicious. "What's going on? Why are they here? You said it was okay for me to stay here, and then you turned me in, didn't you!" She glared at her oldest brother as she rose from her seat.

Hego put his hands in front of him in a calming gesture. "I don't know why they're here, Shego. I'm not expecting them. We haven't told anyone you're here, I swear!"

The twins had forgotten all about food preparation. "Sis, please. Calm down, okay? Hego wanted you to come home too much to turn you in!"

"Oh yeah? What about Mego?" She turned to her purple haired sibling.

"ME?" Mego backed away, and started waiving his hands in front of him. "Oh no. If I turned in my own sister, everyone would think I was the biggest bastard on the planet!"

"Then who tipped 'em off? How'd they know I'm here?"

Hego approached her carefully, as she had ignited her fiery green hands. "Sis, please calm down. No one is trying to turn you in. GJ sometimes just drops by to compare notes on criminal activity, okay? They don't even know you're here."

"Then call them and ask them what they want." Shego was relaxing somewhat; Hego's explanation did seem to make sense, but a decade of habitual suspicion was not easy to overcome. "If I hear one thing that doesn't sound right, I am outta here!"

Mego was already heading for the communications console in the main room. "It's procedure for us to contact them anyway, Shego. Relax, alright? You can listen from off screen. I'll handle it." He punched a few buttons, and the face of Dr. Betty Director appeared on the viewscreen. "Good morning, Dr. Director. How are you this fine day, and what brings you to our neighborhood?"

"I'm quite well, Mego, but I'm not here for small talk. I believe your sister is there with you, and we would like to ask her some questions."

Mego did his best to feign surprise. "Sister? You mean Shego? Betty, we haven't seen her since the last fiasco with Aviarius." He could hear Shego running for the top floor hanger.

"You're a terrible liar, Mego. We're not going to arrest her or try to take her in. We just have some questions about Drakken and Motor Ed. We're hoping that she might be able to help us figure out what happened to Ed, and we also have reason to believe that she might be in danger from his murderers."

"Betty, what are you talking about? Who is 'Motor Ed'? Why do you think someone might be after Shego?"

"I'll explain it all when we land. Just don't let her leave before I can talk to her, Mego. Her life may depend on it!"

From the door leading to the hanger bay, he heard his sister shouting "Out of my way, princess!" There was a loud crash, and the hissing sound of her plasma burning through the air.

"Betty, she isn't going to be easy to convince..."

To be continued...


	9. Train Wreck

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter 9: Train Wreck

Disclaimer: This not for profit fictional work is brought to you for fun and amusement. If I actually owned these characters, you would have to put disclaimers on your own stories telling people I owned them...

--

"I'm quite well, Mego, but I'm not here for small talk. I believe your sister is there with you, and we would like to ask her some questions." The voice of the head of Global Justice confirmed that Shego's tranquil period was over. She could figure out who had ratted her out later; right now she had to escape. She ignored whatever reply Mego might have made to Dr. Director and ran for the stairs leading to the hanger and the Go Jet. She didn't have a fully formed plan yet, but she had a vague notion of taking the jump jet to Florida, ditching it to get the hovercraft which was much harder to detect on radar, and heading for the Caribbean.

Of course, no plan survives first contact with the enemy, which in this case took the form of a red-headed cheerleader and her blond haired goofy sidekick. Perfect. Of course Kimmie would be here. I really don't have time for her right now... She charged up the green glow around her hands, and bellowed a warning to her nemesis. "Out of my way, princess!" To demonstrate her seriousness, she kicked over a stack of crates and fired two bursts of green, one at the red head and one at the blond.

"Shego, we're just here to make sure you listen to Dr. Director!" Kim had to yell as she dodged the attacks from the furious woman. "Trust me, we're not looking for a fight right now!"

Kim, Ron, and Shego were far too focused on each other to notice the red shape sneaking through the door and disappearing into shadows along the wall.

"Listen to her tell me I'm going to jail? I don't think so!" More green bursts shot from her hands before she cartwheeled closer to the aircraft. "I'm just here minding my own business, figuring out what comes next, when some scumbag tips of GJ that I'm here. So much for trusting anyone!" Two more bursts to keep the teen heroes pinned, and a backflip onto the wing. "Take my advice, Kimmie," she said as she sprinted to the cockpit. "I'm in the mood to hurt someone right now, and you don't want to volunteer. Take your little boyfriend and go enjoy your childhood while you can!" She reached inside the jet and pushed a button that should have started an automated start sequence.

The jet remained silent and immobile.

When it rains it pours, she thought. I hate Murphy's Law. She glanced and saw that her opponents weren't closing in, then jumped into the pilot's seat and tried to find the problem. It only took a few seconds to notice the empty spot where the main control module should have been. Without it, the Go Jet was essentially a paperweight. Swearing to herself, she flipped herself out of the cockpit and landed in front of the crates that hid the teenagers. "I'm warning you. Hand it over, before I do something we'll all regret." Her voice was cold, and dripped anger.

Behind the crates, Ron whispered to his girlfriend. "KP, she is seriously tweaked. She might be ready to really hurt someone."

"So what else is new, Ron? Drakken and Shego have been trying to get us out of the picture for years now."

"There's a difference between 'out of the picture' and 'in a hospital ICU on life support'. Listen to her voice. Something is different."

"Sounds like the same pissed off Shego to me."

"No. She's scared and hurt too. Listen."

Shego was screaming from the other side of their shelter. "I want that module NOW!" The last word was little more than a shriek. To emphasize her point, she directed a particularly heavy burst at the crates. The concussion was strong enough to splinter some of the wood and rattle the teeth of the two teens.

"All I'm hearing is anger..."

Ron wasn't normally a perceptive sort of person, especially when women were involved, but there was something in the tone of Shego's screams that he recognized. He had heard it in his own voice when he thought he had lost Kim to the Erik synthodrone and Bueno Nacho had started changing. 'I'm losing everything that's important to me!' Shego was right on the edge. Someone or something had been taken from her, or betrayed her, and she was losing her grip. If Kim fought her right now, one of them would probably die. He wasn't sure Kim could handle killing someone, even if it was an arch enemy like Shego. He wasn't positive that Kim could even win against a Shego with nothing left to lose.

"Give it back!" Shego unleashed another shattering burst at the crates.

"Kim, I love you, and I know you love me. Do you trust me?"

The redhead looked at him with a mixture of confusion and nervousness. "U-usually. Ron, what are you planning?"

"Kim, there's too much bad blood between you two for her to ever listen, but she might listen to me. Just follow my lead, okay?"

"Ron, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"No, but that's usually when I'm at my best." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Trust me, Kim. I'm looking forward to being with you for a long time. Just stay down until I say, and then don't make any sudden moves."

Kim leaned into him for a tight hug. "I love you, Ron. So don't do anything crazy, alright?"

"It's all the Ron Factor, KP. I'll be careful." He let go of her, and called out. "Shego, we don't have it. Rufus took it into the air vents to hide it. I don't even know where it is exactly. If you promise not to blast me, I'll stand up and we can talk. I have an idea how we can settle this without anyone getting hurt."

The hiding red shape nodded when he heard the part about the module and the air vents.

"You? An idea? That's a first."

Kim bristled at the insult to her boyfriend. "He's come up with ideas that beat you and Drakken a few times, Shego!"

The answering blast weakened the crates to the point where a slight push would bring them down.

"Kim, honey, you aren't helping."

"Sorry, Ron. I just... it... she..." She sighed. "Sorry."

He squeezed her hand. "It's all good, KP." In a louder voice, he called out again. "Yeah, the buffoon has an idea." Kim's face darkened at his choice of words, but she said nothing. "Truce? So I can tell you about it?"

"You're stalling, Stoppable. You're waiting for GJ to get in place."

"Shego, we were up here waiting for you. GJ troops were in place before that chopper ever showed up on your monitors. They've already surrounded the island. I don't think anyone could get past all of them, not even you and KP working together."

A pair of snorts, one from his girlfriend and one from the woman he was trying to calm, told him what they thought of the idea of working together.

Shego realized that he was probably right. GJ was most likely prepared for any attempt she could make to get away. The fact that these two do-gooders were already up here and waiting for her meant this was all planned. She needed time to think of a way out, and listening would give her that time. Who knows, maybe that loser does have an idea. "Alright, Stoppable. Stand up, and let's hear it. You too, Kimmie. I want to see both of you. Either of you so much as twitch in a threatening way and your precious little Ronnie gets slow roasted. Got it?"

"She won't try anything. We already told you we just want to make sure you hear what Dr. Director has to say. It's important, Shego. You might be in danger."

She watched carefully as the pair slowly came out from behind the still smoking crates. "Looks to me like you two are the ones in danger. And I trust Betty Director even less than I trust you, so if your idea is listening to her..." She let the implied threat hang between them.

"Okay, so you don't trust Dr. Director or GJ, and there's too much bad blood between you and Kim to listen to her. Will you listen to me if I tell you what's going on?"

"I know what's going on. Someone tipped you off that I was here, and now you're here to put me in jail. This crap about me being in danger is some kind of scam that you think will make me surrender peacefully. Not. Gonna. Happen."

"It's no scam, Shego. There's someone new out there. Or someone old that we're just now seeing, GJ doesn't know exactly, but they're 500 miles of bad road. Nazi Third Reich type bad road, and I'm Jewish, so I don't say Nazi lightly."

"Big deal. There's a new bad guy in town. Maybe I'll go looking for them. They might have freelance work for me."

"They're not the kind of people you would want to be around, Shego. They're the ones who killed Motor Ed."

"Yeah, well Motor Ed was a moron. He probably tried to hit on someone he shouldn't have, or..."

Ron cut her off. "He was tortured, Shego. He was forced to watch the execution of all his friends, then they tortured him in ways that make me sick just thinking about it. Blowing his brains out was probably the kindest thing they did. I know you're pretty nasty when you want to be, and you probably could kill someone if you felt you had to do it to save yourself, but I don't think you could do the things I saw in those pictures."

"How do you know what I'm capable of, loser? For all you know, I could teach classes in torture. And if you don't give me that control module, you're gonna find out exactly what I am capable of doing to you!"

"Shego, please listen to us. We aren't trying to trick you. These people were trying to find information on Drakken. They'll come for you as soon as they figure out where you are."

"So? I can take care of myself. If the cops all over the world haven't caught me yet, what makes you think these guys can?"

Kim just couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Shego, these guys won't follow rules. They don't have to worry about evidence or search warrants. They don't care about morals or ethics! They will do the same thing to your family that they did to Motor Ed's friends!"

"Then give me that damn module so I can leave! They'll come after me and leave my brothers alone!"

"No," Kim said in a quiet voice. "They'll try to grab them and use them against you. And they'll probably go after the twins, since they're the most inexperienced and you're closer to them."

"Please listen to her, Shego. You know it makes sense. You and Drakken tried the same thing a few times, you just weren't so bloodthirsty about it. They would be hosta..."

CRASH!!

The three were startled by the sound of an air vent cover slamming to the floor. Rolling away from the cover was a stunned Rufus and a ten inch tall Mego. The miniaturized human began to grow, and quickly attained his normal size. "Man, who would have though a mole rat knew karate? Shego, here's the module." He tossed it to his sister. "I wish things were different, but I know you have to leave. Hego and the twins are holding back Dr. Director and her GJ muscle."

"Have you idiots lost your minds? Now you'll be accessories! They might go easy or even overlook harboring a fugitive, since I'm family, but now you're aiding and abetting a criminal!" Shego's ability to change course suddenly was what made her so dangerous and unpredictable.

The red shape finally came out of hiding. "Shego, you gotta hurry. More goons are on their way. We can't stop them all without someone getting hurt." He made six copies of himself and swarmed Ron and Kim. Surprise, sheer numbers, and a lack of enthusiasm on the part of their opponents allowed the Wegos to quickly restrain and gag the crime fighters. Another red clad Wego came running through the door with a gym bag. "Here, sis. I was kinda in a hurry, so I just threw a bunch of clothes and underwear in a bag for you, but there's at least one full set in here."

Shego was reeling a little from the rapid pace of events. In the last fifteen minutes she had gone from content to betrayed, then angry, and now confused. "Why are you doing this?"

Mego had relieved the now restrained Team Possible of their various gadgets, and now came to his sister and started pushing her towards the Go Jet. "Hego's idea, actually, except he thought we should all go somewhere together. We convinced him we could do more good if we stayed here. If nothing else, they'll have to send some people here to figure out what to do about us." As they reached the jet, Mego took the bag and tossed it into the cockpit, and then gently prodded Shego to climb in behind it. No one noticed the bag hit the hairless rodent that was trying to sneak into the jet, nor did they hear Rufus' squeaky "Ow! Hey!"

"No, wait. I said why are you doing this?" Her anger had dissipated almost completely. "With all the things I've done, what I've become..."

"Sis... You're our only sister. No matter what you've done, or what else you've become, you'll always be our sister. Didn't Drakken ever do things that hurt you, or caused you problems?"

"Yeah..."

"And did you forgive him?"

"Eventually..."

"Why?"

"Because... well... He... I mean... Look, just because, okay!"

Mego smiled at her. "Because he was family, Shego. Just like you are to us." He took her in his arms, hoping the surprise would keep her from roasting him. "I love you, sis. Nothing will ever change that, not even your anger issues. And I'll be damned if I let some bureaucrat take you away, especially now that you're on your way back to us. Just promise that this time, you'll visit or call when you can, okay?"

Shego couldn't hold back any longer. She returned his embrace fiercely, buried her face against his chest, and squeezed her eyes shut against the moistness. "You're all idiots, but you are family. I'm so sorry for the way I've treated you. I love you guys."

Mego gently stroked her long black hair. "It's okay, sis. We'll be together again soon, after the excitement dies down. You've got to get out of here." He pulled her arms from around his neck and turned her back towards the jet. "Now isn't the time to lose focus, sis. You have to be a hard as nails for a little while longer to get away."

Kim and Ron were struggling against their bonds, vainly trying to talk around their gags. Kim was glaring at the gang of Wegos standing around her, while Ron was shaking his head and trying to make himself understood.

Shego noticed her long time foes struggling to get free. "Looks like I get away again, eh bubble butt? Better luck next time." She enjoyed the glare from Kim before she turned back to Mego. "I guess I'll see you soon, brother. Take care of yourself." She turned to one of the Wegos. "You two twins have to keep the older ones out of trouble, okay? I'll be in touch as soon as I can. Love you both. Tell Hego I love him too... Just make sure it doesn't go to his head. I'm outta here." She jumped into the cockpit and put the module back in place, lowering the canopy. She waved to her brothers, and blew a kiss to Kim and Ron. Another flipped switch and the elevator on which the plane rested began to rise, taking it to the launch platform.

As the bound teens heard the engines roar loudly and fade as the jet took off, they bowed their heads in defeat. Mego approached them with a slightly embarrassed expression. "I'm sorry, guys. She's our sister. She's turning it all around, and she deserves a chance to make things right. Can't really do that from a jail cell, can she?" He removed the gags, and started undoing the rope that held the two.

Ron could only sigh, but Kim found her voice quickly. "It's nice to see the family back together and all. It's just too bad you sent Shego to the wolves!"

To be continued...


	10. Damage Control

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter 10: Damage Control

Disclaimer: I got nothin'. I own nothin' of value. Well not that you would want anyway... Specifically I don't own KP, RS, ZZ Top, XYZ, Disney, Acme, Intel, Microsoft, Walmart, Sony Electronics, Square Enix, General Electric, Toshiba, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler, Paramount, Procter and Gamble, Nintendo, Hershey, Red Lobster, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, Warner Brothers, Cartoon Network, ESPN... You get the idea.

--

There was groaning. Wailing. Gnashing of teeth. Unconscious agents were sprawled everywhere. Betty hadn't seen anything like it since the Global Justice Christmas party. The main difference was the number of hands on her backside... " Watch your hands, Wegos!" With all that was happening, the head of GJ could still find time to be indignant when someone took 'liberties'.

"Wegos! I said hold her down, not molest her!" Hego, who had incapacitated most of the agents Dr. Director had brought with her and was holding a door shut against the rest, was livid at the behavior of his youngest siblings. "Aren't we in enough trouble with the law without you feeling up the Director of Global Justice?"

"Hey, this is a fight, you know." "Yeah, things happen. You want to try to keep her down, Hego?" "She scratches like a wildcat!"

"I doubt she's scratching with her behind! Just hold her arms and legs... Make that legs below the knees... and make sure she can't get loose."

A loud roaring sound from the direction of the roof told them the Go Jet had powered up and was prepared to launch. "Hego, please! You're making a huge mistake. We're trying to help your sister! There are some very nasty people after her! You have to keep her from leaving!"

Hego shook his head. "It's too late, Dr. Director. You can't stop her now. She's going to have a chance to clean up her act and have a good life." The building shook slightly and the roaring sound decreased to nothing. "And it begins now..."

Mego appeared at the stairs leading to the hanger, with a satisfied smirk on his face, even though Kim and Ron had both he and one of the Wegos by the arms. Once Shego had made her escape, they had willingly surrendered. "And this time, I think she'll do it the right way. I wish we could have given her a better start, but at least we did what we could. Time to face the consequences, Hego?"

Hego nodded. "If you're done getting your jollies, Wegos, would you be so kind as to let Dr. Director up?"

The twins quickly merged, reducing their numbers to the normal two, and retreated from the livid woman they had held captive. "We really didn't mean to..." "grab you like that, Dr. Director." "But we couldn't let you..." "take Shego away when she's trying to change."

"You have no idea what you've done!" Betty was almost choked with rage as she jumped to her feet. "You two and your... Your perverted little brothers have just helped some of the worst criminals we've ever seen!"

Hego's temper began to heat up a little at that. "Now that's enough, Betty! You don't know what you're talking about. You haven't seen her the last few weeks. With Drakken gone, she's trying to turn her life around. She's not dangerous. Not anymore!"

"I do know what I'm talking about, you giant dolt, and it isn't Shego! I'm talking about the people that are after her!"

The two oldest members of Team Go shared a look of mystified incomprehension. "You... You aren't here after Shego? Then what...," Hego raised his hands in a gesture of confusion.

"It's no wonder your team is still fighting bush league villains like Aviarius! How can you have survived this long? Your egos are matched only by your incompetence! I should have you drafted into GJ so I could have you shot for stupidity! I..."

An agent, finally getting up the nerve to interrupt the tirade, stepped forward. "Your pardon, Dr. Director, but our covering aircraft have spotted the Go Jet. They are pursuing, and are requesting instructions."

Betty Director closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them a few seconds later, she was still looking at Hego and Mego. She had regained her composure, but was still visibly angry. "I'll deal with you four later. Right now, it looks like I have to try and make sure Shego gets away clean." She turned to the agent that had spoken. "Tell them to break off. She's got a better chance at evading detection if she doesn't have a giant arrow of pursuers pointing at her." Her eyebrows knitted together in thought. "Better yet, tell them to fan out in all directions. Try to mimic her evasive style. Let's give whoever might be watching something else to chase."

Kim, who had been watching the unfolding drama, added an idea. "Dr. Director, what if we arrange for a bunch of false Shego sightings? Would that help cover her?"

Betty nodded. "Excellent idea. I'm sure Wade can handle the internet end of that. I'll have some agents start planting false rumors."

Kim brought out her Kimmunicator. "Wade? Did you catch all that?"

"You bet, Kim. I'm already on it. I'll coordinate with GJ to make it all believable."

"Please and thank you!"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Mego spoke up, waving his hands in front of him. "I don't understand. First you try to capture her, now you want to help her get away? What gives?"

Ron grabbed Mego's arm and whispered urgently. "Dude, not a good idea. You should really keep a low profile until she's cooled off a bit, you know?"

It was too late, as Betty Director's eyes transfixed the hapless Mego. "If you had bothered to listen to what I told you over the radio, Mego, or any of what I've said since I arrived, you would know that we're not trying to capture her! We're trying to protect her from some new players. They're extremely bad news, and we don't think even Shego can handle them on her own. We wanted to bring her somewhere safe. But then you four decide to play the protective brothers and screw everything up!" She took a deep breath. "I can assume you aren't going to cause further trouble, and will come along quietly?" Her glare was enough to give even the most hardened criminal pause.

"We'll turn ourselves in to the authorities, which I believe would be you, as the highest ranking law enforcement official present. We won't resist." Hego's head was bowed in guilt, as he slowly began to understand the mistake he and his team had made.

"Oh no, Hego. You're not getting off that easy." Her voice was as cold as an arctic night. "You four are also going to be taken somewhere safe and held in protective custody, where you will remain until I think of a way for you to correct this colossal lapse in judgement. The last thing Shego needs is for her brothers to be captured by these monsters and used as leverage against her. Although right now, I would really like to let them have the lot of you!"

--

This time I will come back. And I will find a way to thank you all, Shego silently promised herself. She was racing away from Go City, heading due south, flying as low and fast as she could in the Go Jet. Once she was sure she had lost any GJ aircraft that were out searching for her, she would turn towards Miami and retrieve the hovercraft. It wasn't as fast as the Go Jet, but it was a lot harder to track on radar. That would allow her to get to one of the abandoned lairs in the Caribbean, where she could hide out until she could plan her next move.

The problem was, she had no idea what that move might be. Two weeks ago... Had it really been two weeks already? Everything had seemed clear cut and easy. Watch Dr. D cook up an idiot plan, try to make it work, break out of jail when it didn't, and then repeat. Now, he was gone. There was no plan, and all she could do was run. She had been running for one reason or another since she was sixteen, and she was desperately tired of it.

Something else was bothering her about this particular instance. Running from the law usually involved a chase of some sort. It was far too soon for them to have given up, but there was no sign of pursuit. In fact, she hadn't seen anything or anyone try to follow her from Go Tower. Betty Director wouldn't give up without some kind of chase, but nothing was showing up on radar, there were no radio signals, and she couldn't see anything.

Something wasn't right.

Alright, she thought to herself, I'm after someone but I'm not following them. Why not? Either I can't catch them, or... She smiled to herself. "Or I know where they're going, and I'm setting up a trap. I'm one step ahead of you, Betty." She looked once more at her instruments, and still saw no evidence of anyone following her. "So you figured out I came in through Florida, eh? Thought I would be going back for the hover car? Let's see if you anticipated this." She banked the plane slightly and changed her course to head southwest, towards an area of the Gulf Coast that was fairly uninhabited. "Okay, low and slow, avoid populated areas, get over the Gulf and I can open it up a little bit... Oh yeah, I can make this work. Better luck next time, you GJ losers."

--

It was dark. The cloth surrounding him was soft, much softer than the fabric of his human's pocket. He could faintly smell laundry soap and perfume, which was okay, but he would much rather have enjoyed the smell of cheese, or a chimerito. After the purple one had taken the 'module' , Rufus felt guilty about failing his favorite human and his mate. He made his way to the cockpit, hoping to find something to replace it when the green one had jumped into the plane. The bag of clothes was the closest hiding place.

Unfortunately, she had closed the canopy before he could escape.

The only thing he could do was wait for a chance to escape and make it back to his human friends. Until then, he had to avoid the green one. That green fire of hers made him very, very nervous...

--

The beach house appeared to be on fire. This was because of the smoke billowing from the stove top, where Andre had tried to put out a grease fire with water.

Luisa's temper also appeared to be in full flame, for exactly the same reason.

Luckily the water had not caused the flames to spread, but the volume of smoke caused almost as much chaos as a spreading fire would have.

Boss or not, Luisa had told Andre just exactly what she thought of his skill (or lack thereof) in the kitchen, poor common sense, various bad habits, and his possible ancestry. At least that's what he thought she said; he only caught about one word in ten. His Spanish was coming along, but she had spoken very fast.

She also hadn't taught him the profanities of the language, and he was quite certain there were more than a few in her tirade. Luckily, Maria was outside, and hadn't heard what her mother had said.

"Now get out of my kitchen, you yankee fool, before you burn the house down! And don't ever set foot in here again. I will do all the cooking!"

"But, but Maria loves my peanut butter stickies..."

Luisa's eyes narrowed as she looked at her boss.

"And technically this is my house..."

"Ay ay ay, you loco gringo..." Luisa's voice began rising in pitch as she built up steam for another long derogatory monologue.

"Okay, alright, I'll stay out of the kitchen! Just stop screaming at me in words I can't understand!"

At that point, she grabbed a broom and chased him from the smoke filled kitchen, screaming more Spanish profanities. All he managed to translate was that she didn't want him to return until dinner time, and a threat of unspeakable atrocities should he return any earlier. Between cleaning the kitchen and getting the meal ready, that meant several hours.

Under other circumstances, Andre would have been angry at being banished from his own house for any length of time. This time, however, he had ignored her request that he leave the cooking to her, even though it was her job. He thought that she might actually be justified in her anger. Rather than fight it out with Luisa, he decided that it would be better all around (not to mention safer) to simply stay out of her way for a while. It might be nice to just stroll along the beach for a while, he thought to himself.

As Andre strolled along the beach at a leisurely pace, his thoughts turned to Luisa, Shego, and the similarities they had to one another. He idly wondered what they would think of each other. They would probably understand each other. They might not be friends, since Luisa has a pretty well defined sense of right and wrong, but they would respect each other's strength of personality. He snorted. Of course Luisa could teach Shego some Spanish profanity, and Shego could teach Luisa how to drop kick people... "I hope they never meet. I'd never survive it."

"Survive what, Seňor Lipscolm?" The accented, slightly rough voice belonged to Juan, an older man who had leased the beach house next to Andre's own. He was sitting at a patio type table under an umbrella, sipping at a glass of lemonade.

"Oh, nothing, Juan, just thinking out loud. Luisa chased me out of the house for starting a grease fire. I don't know how a sweet woman like her could know such language. Once her temper flares up..." He shook his head and smiled. "I seem to attract women with fiery tempers. My former assistant had a vile temper, but she was very, very good at her job. Just like Luisa. I was thinking if they ever met, they would team up and I'd probably have to go into hiding." And I am not setting up another fake identity. Never. Again. His eyes burned and his back ached just from the memory of all the hours he'd spent in front of a computer setting up this one.

Juan smiled broadly, gesturing for Andre to have a seat next to him. "Latin women are known for their tempers. It is all about heart and passion, Andre. When they love, they love with all their hearts. But when they are angry, they are angry with all their hearts also. That is why they make such great lovers, and such savage enemies. If she is angry with you, make up with her quickly. Whatever you do, do not share her bed before she forgives you." He looked slightly offended as Andre chuckled at his comment. "Laugh if you will, senor, but do not come crying to me when you wake up a... Oh, what is your word... Eunuch?"

"Oh, I believe you, Juan. It's just that if I tried to get in bed with her, I doubt she'd stop at making me a eunuch. No one would ever find my body."

"Oh, so you and Luisa haven't...?" He quirked an eyebrow to get his point across.

"No. Not that I wouldn't, but she doesn't seem to be interested in that sort of thing. She's just there to do her job, and provide for Maria."

"Do not worry, Andre. She will come around. You are not a bad looking guy, and you can provide for her and the child. You treat them both well, and she is too young to be an old maid."

"And also too young to settle for someone like me. She can pick from any man in the area."

"Have you seen the men in the villages around here? If they're not lazy, they're with the drug cartels. Luisa is a smart woman, and she knows she needs a mature man who will provide, not a pretty young boy who will run from responsibility."

"Juan, I'm telling you. She isn't looking for a guy like me."

"Suit yourself, Andre. If you miss a chance at a good woman like her because you don't want to believe she might choose you, that is your business." He sipped at his lemonade. "Oh, my wife told me to tell you and Luisa to keep a close watch on Maria. There's a stranger in town, and some people are saying that he is a little too interested in little children and single women. It isn't uncommon around here for women and kids to disappear and turn up in very nasty places as sex slaves."

"I see. Any idea what this person looks like?"

"No, but if I find out I'll come and tell you. And if you find out something, let me know too. My children are grown, but people like this... They make me want to torture them."

"You know how to torture people?"

"No. But for one who would molest children and take women... I would learn."

Andre nodded his agreement with Juan's sentiment, and then both men retreated to their own thoughts. It seems there are problems everywhere, even if it does look like paradise. But I can do something about this particular evil. Time to break out a few little gadgets, I think...

To Be Continued...


	11. Collateral Damage

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter 11: Collateral Damage

Disclaimer: Didn't we go over this last time? They're not mine! When I have something worth reading that involves original characters, that I can make a profit on, I'll let you know. 'K?

--

That blip is driving me crazy. Trust Hego to cheap out on the radar system... The radar tracking screen in the Go Jet had been giving a new contact alert tone every couple of minutes for the last half hour, then losing the dubious contact almost immediately. It annoyed her to the point she wanted to pull the apparently faulty equipment out by the wires.

The Go Jet was flying at low altitude over the western Caribbean Ocean, about halfway between the coast of Central America and the lair where Drakken had met his end. Shego remembered that there had been a supply dump hidden out here somewhere. It would make an excellent hiding spot, since neither GJ nor Possible's little nerd buddy had found it. It wasn't near any commonly traveled sea or air routes. No planes or ships meant no prying eyes. The problem was she didn't know the exact coordinates of the island, and the Go Jet didn't have it programmed into the navigation system like the hover car. She was left with a search on the open ocean, with few landmarks. She was trying to concentrate, and the constant interruption of the radar warning tone was a huge distraction.

"Oh I'm gonna see Hego again, and when I do, he's gonna eat this stupid radar system..."

--

The oil platform, aptly named Secrets of the Deep, was designed to explore and learn the secrets around it. It also had quite a few secrets to hide, not the least of which was the crew currently watching the video stream from an unmanned drone patrolling the open ocean.

A young specialist decided it was time to inform his commanding officer of the specifics of the situation. "Sir. We have a contact in the western Caribbean, reported by drone L34. It matches the aircraft that left Go City earlier today. That woman that we're searching for should be in that plane."

A dark haired man of average height and unremarkable looks raised his eyes from the reports he was reading. "Remind me to reward the squad that found that hovercraft. That list of hidden supply spots is making this almost too easy." William Johns, Lieutenant Commander in the High Guard of The Human Unity, smiled to himself. Things were definitely going well. "Send an escort drone to investigate. If it is the woman we seek, force her down. Have a search and retrieve team head towards the area and be ready. Make sure no Exodus units are in the area. If there are, pin them down and keep them busy."

"Yes sir."

"What's the ETA of the escort drone?"

"Twenty five minutes until contact."

"Excellent. With just a little good fortune, in half an hour we'll have the green mutant, and she can explain to us how her deceased boss managed to obtain all that lovely anti-matter." And then we can put these Exodus malcontents back in their hole. Permanently.

--

Thousands of dollars for televisions, games, entertainment equipment, fancy computers and communications equipment, and that bonehead gets a twitchy radar system. Shego could only shake her head, and amuse herself with thoughts of what she would do to Hego when she saw him next. The radar was now giving a contact warning several times a minute, and from two different directions. Just to make sure, Shego had actually spent a few minutes scanning the direction of the alleged contacts with her binoculars, but she had seen only ocean and sky.

Adding to Shego's frustration was a rapidly emptying fuel tank, and no supply dump in sight. Soon she would either have to head for an airport, which meant giving GJ a good idea of where she was and what she was planning, or continuing the search, and hoping she was lucky enough to find it before she had to ditch in the ocean. After the last couple of weeks, she didn't have much faith in luck.

--

"Commander, L34 drone reports new contact in area. It's an Exodus air superiority drone, and it seems to be tracking the same target as our drone."

"Air superiority? Are you sure?" Lt. Cmdr. Johns' mood quickly changed from easy going to all business. An air superiority drone was more than a match for the recon drone he had trailing the green skinned person of interest.

"Yes, sir. Type II, fifth generation Exodus air-to-air fighter. I believe they call it the 'Vampire' fighter."

"Well, this day just took a downturn. Closest support?"

"Two more recon drones, not counting L34, which we're using as a relay. We have no other units less than two hours away."

"Great." Recon drones, even three of them, had little chance against a fighter drone. His drones were faster, but lightly armed, and had no armor worth mentioning. They were designed to sneak into an area, gather intelligence, and get out undetected. Their weapons were for use against targets of opportunity, not against an armored and EMP hardened weapons platform. "Get them there to distract the Vampire. Keep the relay drone out of it. Tell the operators their main priority is to keep the woman out of the hands of the enemy. If we can knock her down and grab her, fine, but don't take chances. Better that neither side has her than Unity agents get her and whatever she might know."

--

In a command center much like the one occupied by Lt. Cmdr. Johns, though it was a container ship instead of an oil platform, another group of people was avidly watching events in the Caribbean.

"Captain King, Vampire 21 is closing in on the Unity drone. We've confirmed that the jet is in fact the same one that escaped from Global Justice earlier today. We believe the pilot is Shego, since she was the only one not taken away by GJ agents."

Captain Saul King, Project Exodus Air Force, looked dubious. "Could it be a ruse?" He had been following events since Global Justice had 'raided' Go Tower earlier in the day. Though both Unity and his own Exodus surveillance equipment was far superior to anything the rest of the world had, this still seemed just too easy.

"I... I can't rule that out, Sir. We have no absolute confirmation on the identity of the pilot, only supposition and best guesses."

"But?"

The young asian woman reporting the information, Lieutenant Christine Li, looked at the Captain in confusion. "Sir?"

"Your tone and body language tell me that you don't believe it's a ploy by GJ to confuse possible pursuit. Why?"

"Sir, I'm not an intelligence specialist, so I can only offer my opinion, but I am familiar with Global Justice, and Dr. Betty Director. She has always been open to new technology and theories, but quite rigid when it comes to tactics and strategy. If this is a feint, it is a two staged plan; the more obvious trick, having a ring of aircraft mimic the escapee, lures pursuers into falling for the second trick of a decoy plane. It seems a little too involved for Dr. Director. Her tactics are usually more straight forward."

"Interesting. Let's see if you're right. This Shego woman is considered a high priority, and our bosses will want this checked out. And just in case that is her, let's get another Vampire and a search-and-rescue team ready. I'll be on the horn to HQ. Keep me up to date on the situation." Looks like things are going to be interesting for a few days, he thought as he made his way back to his desk, a calm stride masking his growing agitation.

--

Desperately searching the horizon for any hint of her goal, Shego didn't notice that the contacts hadn't dropped off the screen. In fact, the radar was indicating that the second blip had changed course, and was heading for the original blip at a rather impressive Mach three.

--

"Cmdr. Johns, the Exodus fighter drone has increased speed and changed course to intercept our recon drone."

"Status of the other two drones?" He placed his rough hands on the console of the specialist, leaning slightly, and scanned the displays.

"Still several minutes away at current speed, Sir. The Vampire will be withing firing range of our drone before they can get there."

Shaking his head, Johns allowed a little anger to enter his voice. "Tell them to increase to flank speed. I want them there now! Switch on targeting radars and anything else that will draw the Vampire's attention."

--

"Capt. King, we have two more Unity recon drones, closing on the area at Mach 3.5 and accelerating. They have their targeting and search radars on full power."

"Making a lot of noise, aren't they? Trying to distract us from the drone and the Go Jet. Keep the first Vamp on target. Is the second Vamp close?"

"About five minutes from effective range, Sir."

Captain King closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "So we have three Unity drones, our two Vampires, and the Go Jet. Besides that, are there any other contacts?"

"No Sir."

"No weird readings, no ghosts, no unusual radar activity...?"

"Not that I've seen, Sir. This spot is well away from shipping lanes and normal airline paths. The radar has been clear, except for the current situation. What should I be looking for?"

"Unity forces always use a signal relay. It helps to hide the main unit. Somewhere there must be a drone just orbiting, keeping out of sight..."

--

"Warning. Warning. Tracking radar detected. Possible weapons lock."

"What the...?" Shego's focus on the seascape below her was shattered by the computer generated voice. The radar, which she had been trying to ignore, now showed not one or two intermittent contacts, but four steady contacts, all seemingly closing on her. "Oh, this is just friggin' great! I don't have the time or the fuel for this!"

The first two contacts were coming from the southeast, while the two new ones were heading in from the east. Her only real option was to head west, which was actually good. That course would lead her closer to land, in case she had to bail out. That option was beginning to look more likely, but was hardly what she wanted.

The simple fact was that Shego was once again trapped. She was over open ocean, so there wasn't any terrain that she could use to hide, or even land and try to escape on foot. She was low on fuel, so a long chase was out of the question. Maybe if I can outrun them long enough, I can ditch somewhere close to land. How fast are they going... Checking the data tag the radar put up next to each contact, which had among other things speed and heading, she frowned. Mach 3? That can't be right. The only aircraft that can do that is the SR-71 Blackbird... The two newer easterly contacts were actually increasing speed. She had already assumed once the radar was faulty, and ignored it. Making the same mistake twice would be suicidal. She had to believe it was working correctly.

"Okay, if the radar's right, I can't outrun them, and there's no place to hide. If I ditch out in the open ocean, I'm caught. Or dead. So, what's left?"

A small voice in the back of her mind spoke a single, quiet word: surrender.

Sighing, she knew that there really wasn't any other choice. Her heart railed against her mind, causing a tightness in her chest, but she swallowed the lump in her throat as she switched on the radio.

"Attention pursuing aircraft. This is Shego, piloting the Go Jet. I surrender. Repeat, I surrender. I am low on fuel, and require assistance..."

--

"... low on fuel, and require assistance as soon as possible. Please acknowledge."

"Well, it looks as if we won't have to force her down. Now if we can just get rid of that Vampire..." Cmdr. Johns let his voice trail off as he weighed his options. The only sure way for a recon drone to take out a Vampire was to ram it. A Vampire was a lot more expensive than a recon drone, and such a trade would be to Unity's favor. It would be a lot more favorable to take it out without losing his own aircraft, so ramming was a last resort.

The commander's thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched buzzing sound from the radar unit. "Sir, new contact. Another Exodus Vampire. Sir, it's heading for the relay drone!"

The problem with last resorts, Johns thought to himself, is that eventually you have to use them. Then you have to find a new last resort. "You're sure they know where the relay is?"

"The drone moved out of the flight path as soon as the Vampire appeared, and the Vampire changed course as well. It definitely sees the drone. Whether they know it's a relay... I don't know, Commander."

"We just can't take that chance. If Exodus gets her, and she does have the knowledge that we suspect she might, it would change the entire nature of the conflict. Tell the operators to take her out. Now, before that fighter takes out the relay and we lose contact."

"Understood." The specialist pressed several spots on his touch screen to connect with the specific operators, the 'pilots' of the drones, on the communications system. "Black Jack, Viceroy, Hawkeye, kill the target now. Repeat, kill the target immediately." After a brief pause, he nodded to the commander. "Orders received. Closest drone is operated by Viceroy. He has a conventional air to air missile." A new dot appeared on the radar screen. "Missile away, Commander."

--

They're not answering? What the... Shego stared for a second at her radar, which now showed a fifth contact, moving very fast and directly at her. Her heart began to pound, and her breathing became short and quick.

Shego screamed into her headset, ignoring the computer voice warning her of the incoming missile she had already noticed. "What are you doing? I said I surrender! Just tell me what you want me to do! Cease fire! I give up already!"

The radio remained silent.

The missile continued towards her.

"Shit!" Shego's instincts took over as she forced the jet into a series of rapid, random, and violent maneuvers intended to throw off the deadly projectile. She also released chaff and flares, hoping to give it something else to chase.

--

"Captain, Unity drones have fired on the target! She's trying to evade!"

"Kill that damn relay drone now! Fire at extreme range if you have to! Have the other Vampire take out the drones that are approaching before they can fire!"

--

The sky above the Caribbean Ocean was suddenly full of missiles. Shego could only assume they were all meant for her. She was too busy trying to shake the closest one to worry about the others yet. "Come on, come on, take the bait..."

The Go Jet's frame was shaken as the missile detonated on one of the flares.

"Yes! One down..." She swallowed with difficulty as she saw at least five new contacts the computer had designated as missiles. She had no way of knowing only two of them were tracking her own aircraft. The other three were each streaking towards other targets.

The first aircraft downed was the Unity relay drone, stricken a mortal blow by a missile. The second kill, somewhat surprisingly, was the Exodus Vampire tracking Shego and the remaining Unity drones. Each recon drone carried only one weapon, so the first drone to fire had turned and set its sights on the fighter and, being slightly faster and more agile, successfully rammed it.

A few seconds later, two other missiles found their targets and the remaining two recon drones ceased to exist. That left only three contacts on Shego's radar. One seemed to be keeping its distance, but the other two were closing quickly. "Let's hope this works again," the green skinned woman muttered to herself as she released the remainder of her flares and chaff. One of the missiles exploded harmlessly amidst a cloud of chaff, again shaking the airframe of the Go Jet.

"Damn!" The last missile shot straight through the countermeasures. Shego pulled the plane into a steep climb, both as a last attempt to evade the missile and to gain altitude in case she needed – and lived long enough – to eject.

"Danger. Missile one hundred meters and closing."

"As if I needed a computer to tell me that!" Shego screamed back at the computer as she sharply leveled off her climb, rolled, and banked to the west again.

"Missile fifty meters and closing. Eject. Eject." The calmness of the computer generated voice seemed terribly out of synch with the urgency of the situation. The missile had matched every turn. Shego looked around to find the ejection handle, deciding that the computer had a good idea for once. As she reached for it, a brilliant flash illuminated the cockpit, and every electronic item on board began smoking and sparking. The control stick became very heavy and sluggish. Every screen and light went dim.

"Yep, bailing out is definitely a good idea." She grabbed the handle and pulled.

Nothing happened.

She pulled again, much harder, with similar lack of results. On the third attempt, the combination of frustration, fright, and her superior strength actually snapped the stainless steel handle. Shego could only stare at it, dumbstruck, as the Go Jet began to fall in a slow dive towards the beautiful, brilliant blue, and unforgiving ocean below.

To Be Continued...


	12. Oh Snap

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter 12: "Oh, Snap..."

Disclaimer: I own pretty much nothing in this one. If you recognize it, I don't own it. If you don't recognize it, then does it really matter who owns it? I am not making any profits from this, nor is it my intent to do so. Specifically, I don't own McGyver, KP, RS, DC (Disney Corp.), 007, 008, Q, M, or any other letters for that matter. Since we're mentioning letters, this chapter is brought to you by the Greek letter Sigma (we are an equal opportunity sponsorship provider).

--

There are people in the world who have the admirable ability to let most anything simply roll off their backs. No matter what nasty little turn fate might have in store, they can face it with equanimity and poise.

Andre Lipscolm, aka Dr. Drakken, aka Drew Lipsky, was not one of those people.

Any slight, any insult, any thwarted plan, from any agency, either real or imagined, living or inanimate, went right to the core of his being like a red-hot splinter of metal worming its way into his flesh. Much as a burning splinter will draw one's attention to the exclusion of all else, the insults and perceived unfairness of the world focused Andre's attention on revenge. This fixation had led to such disastrous plans as mind-control shampoo, using magma to destroy Milwaukee, and numerous attempts to use untested and poorly understood inventions.

This time, it was no insult or slight to himself that drew his determination. If Juan was right, there was a very real threat to Maria and Luisa. Since he had settled into his little bungalow, he had become rather attached to them. Though Luisa had a temper similar to Shego, she was less likely to become physically violent. She was also more respectful, and generally more open with her positive feelings, like friendship and respect. Luisa was one of only a small handful of people that had ever shown Andre any respect, and that was enough to make him extremely protective of her, both as an employee and as a friend.

Maria was a much simpler case. She had given him one of the best compliments he had ever received. After the kitchen fire fiasco, Maria begged and pleaded for days for Andre to be allowed in the kitchen again for one reason. "Because, mama, his peanut butter stickies are the best cookies ever!"

With that one sentence, a little girl completely and utterly conquered the one-time super-villain. She had stood up for him, and had praised him. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her now.

There was still enough of a dark side to Andre that he would enjoy making an example out of anyone who tried to harm her.

--

Andre wasn't used to physical exertion. Though his build seemed capable, he had never seen the need to really exert himself, preferring the intellectual approach if possible, and henchmen if not. The problem with his current situation was there were no henchmen, nor were there any realistic ways to use his mind to move all of the equipment he needed. After all, only McGyver could make a high-powered, narrow-beam frequency emitter without the use of serious electronic testing equipment. While none of the boxes were extremely heavy, there were quite a few, and the walk was more like a hike.

"Everyone always focuses on the pretty boy spies and the muscle jockeys. Bond always gets the glory and the girls, while Q gets to be the joke. Where would 007 be without all those cool gadgets? Q should have been the hero! He should have gotten the girls and the fame! Q and I are the brains behind the operations! We are the visionaries!" Andre dropped the last of the boxes on a work table, slumping over it with an explosive exhale. "But even Q had people to carry his equipment around. How on earth did I ever get all this stuff in that hover car?"

Andre's current endeavor wasn't something he could really do in the open; unfortunately, the bungalow he had rented didn't come with a garage, basement, attic, or any other 'retreat' that he could convert into a lair. To solve this problem, he had returned to the small island where he had hidden the hover car and scouted around for a cave. He had most of his equipment from the lab, and most of the furnishings he needed could be found in abandoned buildings. It wasn't the comfortable, cavernous lair with massive power generation to which he was accustomed, but his current scheme wasn't on the same level as the death rays of old. In fact, this particular little item was meant to be portable... and concealable. He called it the Brown Out. It didn't actually cause unconsciousness, but it interfered with the brain's control of the body, especially the control of bodily functions.

It took Andre a few minutes to recover from the last heavy box, but he soon began to unpack and set up his small lab. A rather nasty grin was on his face as he muttered to himself, "This is going to get messy..."

--

A few kids were playing soccer in a grass field, oblivious to the man watching their game. Even had they noticed him, they would never have imagined his purpose in such a place. Neither would most adults. People just didn't think such things. Though his green eyes marked him as a foreigner, his dark hair, dark complexion, average height and build made it easy for him to blend in to the background.

It made his job a lot easier.

He observed the many boys, struggling against their friends and their own limits, and admired the spirit. Any of those boys would be good. The girls watching them would work also. Too bad they all have big families; too many people would notice they're missing. But that young woman and her daughter living with that American guy... They would work. Not many other prospects in this pigsty.

He started walking towards the beach-side hotel where he was staying. Now I have to talk them into wanting to come along. Shouldn't be too hard, since they don't exactly live in paradise. Promise them something better, and they'll jump at it. They always do.

As he continued down the rather deserted path towards his temporary lodgings, the sound of an old style phone bell came from his shirt pocket. With practiced ease he whipped out the cell phone and checked the caller's ID before he answered. "Hello," he said as he continued walking, and nodded after a brief pause. "Yes. No, not many. Only two. A woman and her child." He continued his stroll, casually watching the people around him. "Yes. The father isn't around, and the mother works for a tourist as a housekeeper." He shrugged to himself. "Not sure about that, but she looks around 25, and the girl's maybe five or six. The good part is that they're new to the area, so no one will particularly notice if they suddenly... move." Rolling his eyes, he let just a little of his exasperation into his voice. "Yeah, I know we've spent a lot of time and effort here, but you know there's not much down here. We need young and healthy, and this place doesn't let 'em stay that way for very long." Smiling slightly, he continued. "Good, I'm tired of this place. I don't know why people think this is paradise. Nothing but sand and humidity and thugs. I'm planning to approach them tomorrow, and give 'em an offer they can't refuse. Should be ready for pickup by tomorrow night." He nodded once again before he continued. "Understood. I know the spot. Everything will be ready." He hit the small button that ended the call. He hated talking on phones; you could never be sure someone else wasn't listening, and he had to edit out certain words that might trigger an electronic intercept. Face to face was a lot more secure.

He had no idea that someone was in fact intercepting his conversation, or at least part of it, using a simple child's toy. A directional microphone and amplifier, sold as part of a 'Junior Spy Kit', worked surprisingly well for listening to conversations from a distance. The distance kept the unwitting subject from seeing the reaction of Andre, whose hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't keep the microphone aimed correctly. There's no way any scum like this is going to get near Maria and Luisa. Not while I can do something about it.

--

Andre's plan wasn't particularly complicated. He'd learned, after many, many failures, that keeping things simple was best. Once he figured out where his green-eyed target was going, he just placed himself along that path and waited for him to arrive.

Then things would get tricky; the villain-turned-vigilante would have to fool his target into cooperating, if only briefly, and that wasn't Andre's best skill.

Well, here goes, he thought as the subject of his thoughts turned a corner and came into view. When the guilty party came close, Andre looked right at him and cleared his throat. "I understand you are looking for... someone."

Raising an eyebrow, the stranger regarded the man before him. "Not really. I prefer to do things for myself." This wasn't the first time a local thought they knew what he was doing and tried to capitalize on the situation. "I have what I came for, and my business is finished. I'm not looking for help – or partners, if that's what you have in mind."

"Ah, but it would be a shame to leave without exploiting all the opportunities, wouldn't it?" Andre emphasized his words so that the stranger would catch the meaning hidden within them.

"And would you happen to know of any opportunities I may have missed?"

"A few might come to mind, if I were properly," Andre paused while he seemed to consider what word he should use, before finally continuing with "...motivated."

"Naturally." The stranger wore a poker face as he thought about the situation. This man, whom he now remembered was called Andre, was the employer of his only real prospect and her daughter. All that he knew about this Andre was that he was an American, apparently well educated and somewhat wealthy. When people like that ended up in a backwater third world village like this, it usually meant they were running from something or someone. "What form might this motivation take?"

"I might want to take advantage of some of these opportunities myself, you see. Perhaps we could discuss this situation over a drink?"

The green-eyed man kept his face blank as he considered Mr. Lipscolm. If he actually did have any leads, it would make his trip much more worthwhile. He looked around and saw a small bar close by. "Alright. How about that place?"

"That will be fine. Shall we?" Andre gestured with his hand towards the little pub, indicating his new acquaintance should lead the way. This is going too well, he thought to himself. Maybe my luck is finally changing, or I'm learning how to scheme correctly. He casually placed a hand in his pants pocket and touched the device he'd spent the last several days constructing. We'll soon find out.

The bar was something right out of the Old West, complete with a long mirror behind the barkeep, sawdust on the floor, and swinging double gates in the doorway. There were only a few round tables in the small room, each with four wooden, cushion-less chairs. An older, well dressed man sat on a stool at the bar, talking to the woman serving the drinks. A younger man was occupied a table in the corner, nursing a beer. Green eyes, as Andre thought of the man in his mind, led the way to the other corner and sat facing the front of the bar.

"So, what opportunities have I missed? I thought I was pretty thorough," the man began as Andre seated himself facing him.

"My my, impatient, aren't you? We haven't even ordered drinks yet."

"Fine. Senora?" He waved at the woman behind the bar. "Can I get a bottle of Red Eye Tequila and two glasses?" He looked at Andre. "Unless you'd like something else?"

"Actually I'd prefer a beer. Preferably in a bottle."

"Don't trust the tap, eh? Okay," he looked back at the bartender, "the tequila, one glass, and two bottles of beer. I could use a chaser." Once again, Green eyes turned his attention to Andre. "Now, while it's on the way, maybe we could save some time if you told me about these opportunities and what sort of motivation you seek."

"Well, I've noticed that you have been watching a certain housekeeper and her little girl. I'm sure you've noticed that they live with me."

"I've no idea what you mean by 'watching'..."

"Of course not," Andre interjected.

"... but it is common knowledge around town that you have a live-in maid who has a little girl. What about them?"

"They're mine. Stay away from them."

Interesting, thought Mr. Green Eyes. I didn't know pedophiles could be so territorial. "And if I were to leave them to you, would that ease your mind and allow you to remember these other opportunities?"

Andre smirked. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Green eyes slowly nodded his head. "You know, I have a better idea." He paused for a moment, then reached up and idly scratched the side of his smallish nose with his left ring finger. "What if I just take all three of you and drag these other opportunities out of you later?"

Andre's eyes widened at the threat. This is going too fast. I wanted him to drink more so that no one would think it strange when he gets sick from my invention, but I have to use it now. Maybe I can blame it on drinking the local water. He was reaching for his pocket, and the device therein, when he felt a stinging sensation on his right shoulder. Instinctively, he tried to reach behind him and brush off what he assumed was an insect, but his right arm was quickly going numb. An icy cold sensation was spreading out from his shoulder. "Whaass goong..." Dizziness slurred his speech as the numbness spread throughout his body. He desperately wanted to stand, but his limbs were no longer accepting instructions from his brain. Unable to control any part of his body, he simply slumped forward onto the table.

"I take it we have a deal," said Green eyes. He looked at the other occupants of the bar. "Let's escort this sleaze back to his house. We can tell his housekeeper what he was planning, and use that to convince her to join us." He grabbed Andre by the hair, pulling the unresisting head back to look at his face. "Then, we can decide what to do with this."

To Be Continued...


	13. Misunderstanding

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by Visigoth29527

Chapter 13: Misunderstanding

Disclaimer: Yadda yadda yadda... See previous chapters. In short, most of the characters are owned by Disney Channel. No profits involved.

Seriously.

--

Mr. Lipscolm was out.

Late.

Again.

It was annoying his housekeeper, who was currently sweeping off the walkway and porch of the beach cottage where they lived.

Luisa, despite her best efforts to put it out of her mind, was getting suspicious. The first time he'd stayed out all day had been about ten days ago, right after the grease fire fiasco, and she'd thought nothing of it at the time.

After all, she had told him to find something better to do than destroy her kitchen. How someone could bake a batch of cookies that brought tears of joy, yet otherwise be a complete menace in the kitchen, was an utter mystery.

Luisa used the alone time with her daughter to brush up on her own baking skills. Maria had said Mr. Lipscolm's cookies were the best, and as any self respecting mother would, Luisa intended to challenge for that title.

But now...

The last week, he left early, almost immediately after breakfast, and didn't return until after sunset. When he did come home, he ate and quickly retired to his room. Instead of long rants about random subjects, he was very quiet.

It was exactly like Maria's father when he became involved with the local drug gangs. Luisa didn't think Mr. Lipscolm would do such a thing, but she had never expected such things from Maria's father, either. She would never have gotten close to him if she had suspected such things. She knew the drugs and the easy riches were at fault, but they had combined to twist him into an evil soulless monster who had been almost impossible to escape. Luisa had absolutely no intention of going through that again. Her daughter would never go through that again.

The broom strokes became quicker, more violent.

She had to leave. She couldn't confront him about it; there wasn't any point. He would deny it. He wouldn't be so careless as to leave evidence around the house, not with a housekeeper who had access to everything. That's probably why he's always gone. He's doing it somewhere else. I have to leave. But where am I going to go? I can't take Maria to the streets again. She has to have a home. But I can't have her growing up around a drug addict or dealer, either. Please, Mother Mary, show me another way!

The broom strokes were so uncontrolled now that it was dragging more dirt onto the walk than it was cleaning. Luisa stared at the frazzled straws, shaking her head. Looking up, she saw her employer, being half dragged, half carried by two men she didn't know. He looked like he might be passed out, and all three were staggering as if drunk.

Luisa almost dropped the broom in alarm. "What has happened? What is wrong with Seňor Lipscolm?"

"He's fine, ma'am. He just got an early start on his drinking and over-did it. We should get him in the house, though."

Drinking? He's been drinking? That's all? Maybe it wasn't drugs, then?

"Sì, sì. This way." She held the door open, allowing the small crowd of three men into the front room. "Just lay him on the couch there. I will take care of him, senors. Thank you so much for seeing him home safely."

"No problem, ma'am. Couldn't leave a fellow Yankee passed out in a bar, could we?" The two men carried Andre to the couch Luisa had indicated.

"Perhaps, but not many would help like this, Senor...?" Luisa held her hand out to the green-eyed man.

"Cain, ma'am. Lewis Cain." His grip was firm, but not crushing.

Something isn't right here. A vague feeling of unease stirred in the back of her mind, enough to compel her to be somewhat rude and not offer her own name. "I will tell Senor Lipscolm who was so kind to him. I'm sure he will want to thank you personally when he feels better. I'm sorry to rush you off when you have been so kind, but I really should take care of him."

"I think he'll be fine," Lewis said. "And I would like to speak with you, Ms. Rojas. I have some information for you. Very important information that concerns you and your daughter."

Luisa's eyes widened slightly. Her heart began racing, and her fingers tingled as if she'd just had an electrical shock. "How... How do you know my name? How do you know I have a daughter?" Oh no, no, please let her be alright...

"Please relax, ma'am. As you probably know, Mr. Lipscolm talks a lot when he drinks. We're not here to hurt you or your daughter. In fact, we're here to offer you a chance at a better life."

Her nervousness subsided slightly at the obvious explanation. "Actually, I've never seen him near alcohol in the house, and this is the first time I've even smelled alcohol on his breath, let alone passed out drunk. I-I think you should leave. This life is fine with me, Senor Cain. Mr. Lipscolm is a good man to work for, and we're happy here." Luisa still felt uneasy about these strangers.

"Please, Ms. Rojas, all I'm asking is that you listen to what I have to say. There's something about Mr. Lipscolm you should know. Has he spent a lot of time alone with your daughter?"

"What?"

"Did he spend much time alone with Maria? Did he ever do anything that seemed inappropriate? Did Maria ever seem to act odd around him?"

"What are you saying, Senor? Are you saying that Senor Lipscolm was doing something to my Maria?" Her anger was actually making her scalp and neck tingle, as her hair tried to stand up. "Sr. Lipscolm is a good man, Senor. I should know, I have seen plenty of evil men to know the difference. Maria loved him like an older brother, or maybe even a father. I don't know why you would say such things, but you are wrong, Senor. Terribly wrong."

"Then tell me, Ms. Rojas, why would he offer to lead me to other children in this town in order to have Maria to himself?"

Luisa's eyes narrowed, and her voice rose in volume and pitch. "Get out. I don't know what you're trying to do, but get out! Get out of this house now, or I will scream, and my neighbor will come with a gun!"

A faint click drew her attention. The other man, who had been standing by the door after helping the unconscious Andre to the couch, had pulled out a digital voice recorder. Andre's voice was clearly identifiable.

"Well, I've noticed that you have been watching a certain housekeeper and her little girl. I'm sure you've noticed that they live with me."

The voice of Mr. Cain was next. "I've no idea what you mean by 'watching'..."

"Of course not..."

"... but it is common knowledge around town that you have a live-in maid who has a little girl. What about them?"

"They're mine. Stay away from them."

The unnamed man clicked another button, and the recording stopped. Lewis spoke up. "That was a conversation we had in a bar in town, about half an hour ago. Mr. Lipscolm had approached me outside and suggested he may have an offer I'd be interested in. He didn't know I had several friends in that bar. Once we knew what he was after, we knocked him out and brought him back here."

"That... This can't be what you're saying it is. Mr. Lipscolm isn't like that. He loves my daughter! He is teaching her to bake cookies! He.."

"He is a very good actor." Lewis shook his head sadly. "He has to be, to get away with this right under your nose. Has he ever told you why he came here? He obviously has money. Is this place really the best he can do? Why would he come here?"

"I... He's never talked much about why he came. I didn't need to know. He was good to us both, so I didn't care. Maybe he likes the ocean."

"Or he's running from something. Like the law. I'm guessing that this isn't the first time he's tried this."

"Mr. Lipscolm is not like that, I tell you. He could have been trying to defend us. And why did he think you might be after us?"

"It's a long story, and I can't really tell you all of it. You and your daughter are of interest to me because you are a young mother, in good health, and in a bad situation. You're a good candidate to join our group. We need young families to colonize a new area, and we think you'd be interested. Mr. Lipscolm apparently saw our interest in you as a threat. He approached me, as I said, and offered to trade information on other 'opportunities' in the area if we would leave you and Maria to him."

"I don't understand any of this, but I have no reason to trust you, and no reason to distrust Mr. Lipscolm. He's been very kind to us, and I have never seen him do anything bad to Maria."

"Nothing at all? How much time does he spend alone with her?"

"None. I'm here all the time. Lately he hasn't spent anytime with her, and she's unhappy about that. She misses him. Does that sound like he's abusing her?"

Lewis Cain looked at the supine man on the couch. He didn't actually have proof of his assumptions, but he had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. As he considered what he actually knew about the situation, he became less sure about the conclusions he had drawn. Something still seemed strange about Mr. Lipscolm. His mannerism screamed that he was hiding something, and that he was no stranger to the darker side of human nature. Well, at least I didn't kill him. "Okay. You've been around him longer than I have, and you know your daughter. But I would definitely watch him if you stay here. Of course," he continued as he shifted his gaze back to Luisa, "you wouldn't have to worry about him if you came with us."

Luisa stared back at Lewis with astonishment, which quickly gave way to anger.

Lots and lots of anger.

"Come with you? COME WITH YOU? Are you loco, Senor? Or do you think I am some ignorant fool? You come here, accuse the first man since my father to treat me well of being a child molester, and think I'll go anywhere with you? You... YOU... GET OUT! NOW!" Luisa reached for the first thing she could find to throw, which was a relatively harmless cushion from a chair, and heaved it at Lewis.

"Now just a minute. You should be glad that we're trying to help!" He blocked the pillow with his hands, and kept them up in a conciliatory gesture. "Maybe he isn't a pedophile, but something about him isn't right. He's hiding something!"

Luisa, unsatisfied with the results of the pillow, looked around for something more substantial. Her eyes settled on the broom she had been using to clean the porch and front walk. She grabbed it and assumed a stance that would have made any swordsman proud.

The second man, who had been silent to this point, approached his partner and grabbed an arm. "I think we're done here, Lewis. Sorry for the trouble, ma'am," he said as he started to leave.

"No, we're not. I'm not letting this one get away. We need more people to-" Lewis was suddenly distracted by the urgent need to dodge a broom swinging directly for his head. His partner, seeing no need to suffer the consequences of the stupidity of others, simply ran out the door.

--

Juan was enjoying his customary afternoon rest on his front steps. In his opinion, a cold drink and perhaps even a nice nap were the highlights of a good day. He had just sat down when he heard a shout from next door, the house where Andre lived. As he looked on, wondering if he should get out his shotgun, he saw a man he didn't recognize running out the door towards the street. Another man exited the house, running as best he could while staggering and holding the side of his head. As the two ran past Juan's house, Luisa came out, carrying a broom that was oddly bent. Well, that explains what happened to the second guy, Juan mused. The irate woman looked at the two running men, screamed a few choice profanities, and chased after them with the broom.

"Heh," Juan muttered to himself. "It seems that Luisa does not approve of Andre's friends..."


	14. Playing with Fire

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter 14: Playing with Fire

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Not likely I ever will. But if I ever do, you can be sure that I'll share 'em!

--

Not for the first time, Shego regretted not being fluent in a second language. She had already used all the English profanities she could remember, and the repeating them wasn't really satisfying.

As an alternative, she decided to try something constructively violent and started hammering at the canopy with the broken ejection lever. Even with her strength, she could do little more than make small gouges in the hard plastic. She looked around the cockpit with wide eyes while she caught her breath. She realized she was panicking, and that she had to calm down and think if she had any chance at all.

"Okay," she said as she inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Something fried everything electronic on this heap, so the eject system won't trigger. Even Hego couldn't open the door against the pressure difference, but I think my plasma can cut open the canopy. Where are the spare 'chutes? There's no way Hego would be dumb enough to forget those." When she was part of the team years ago, there were spare parachutes on the back of the pilot and co-pilot seats. Since then the aircraft had been refitted with new seats, which had electronic readouts on the back. The green woman, now even paler than usual, frantically scanned the interior for clues of the new storage area.

The Go Jet wasn't designed like a fighter. The airframe was slightly larger than that, being closer in size to a small private jet. The cockpit, the only part of the plane a person could occupy, was large enough to handle five people, and resembled the interior of a comfortable mini-van. The two front spots were bucket seats, while the rear three were more of a bench type, though they were separate for ejection purposes. As large as it seemed, there really weren't a lot of areas for storage.

"Damn it, damn it! Where are they? I don't have time for this!" The normally calm ex-super villainess was running out of altitude... and patience.

After a frantic five seconds, which seemed like five hours, Shego found that there were no spare parachutes. The seats, designed for emergency ejection, had them built into the backrest, but they were also detachable. With a small effort the parachutes would pull free of the seat. The seat belt system, which she had dismissed as overly complicated and Hego-esque, was also the harness. If she had been able to eject normally, she would have been in serious trouble since she hadn't been wearing the restraints. Muttering to herself about blessings in disguise, Shego struggled to quickly don the harness system.

The Go Jet was descending, but at a steep angle rather than a nose-dive. "7,500 feet. No time to be subtle." The canopy didn't have any hinges to cut, and it would take too long to cut around the entire cockpit. As a compromise she decided to cut out a large circle directly over her seat. Focusing her plasma into a narrow beam, she started cutting.

She was wearing 'civilian' clothes – black jeans and a green blouse, and didn't have her normal gloves. The plasma made her hands feel a little warmer than normal, but her skin was proof against the superheated plasma. Dr. Drakken had once theorized that her skin protected her from plasma's blistering heat, but in her usual way Shego ignored him. She had been quick enough to take the gloves he made to help protect her hands from other threats, mostly because of the razor sharp fingertips that he added.

Once the Lexan material was almost burned through, she pulled the parachute free of the seat. She didn't want to blast out the circular piece with her powers because she didn't want a jagged edge on the hole. Facing the rear of the aircraft, she put her left leg on the seat and her right foot on the floor for leverage. Using all her strength, Shego punched out the circular hole she had traced on the canopy.

Shego was normally very, very good at thinking quickly, and acting instinctively. So good, in fact, that had she any skill at long term strategic planning she might have ended up ruling the world years ago. But no matter how quick her mind, or how true her instincts, something always came out of left field and blindsided her, wrecking her day and preventing success.

Sometimes, it was something major, like Global Justice and Princess Kimmie arriving at Go Tower, or Drakken realizing too late he'd missed something important in his planning.

Other times it was minor, such as Kimmie's buffoon of a boyfriend falling and tripping her, or setting off a destructive chain reaction.

This time, it was just pure bad luck. Instead of breaking clean as she intended, the heat weakened canopy cracked and splintered into a dangerously jagged edge. Whatever force it was that seemed to desire Shego's downfall didn't stop there. The pressure differential between the inside of the plane and the thin atmosphere outside created a powerful suction, which pulled her out by her voluminous black hair. Only her quick instincts allowed her to get her arms up to protect her face and upper chest. Her hands and lower arms took the brunt of the damage as she was dragged out and across the tooth-like canopy.

--

Rufus found the bag to be quite comfortable, though a little cramped. Naps came pretty naturally to him, and if he could sleep in his human's pocket, this bed of soft and silky material was the bed of a five star hotel. He even managed to sleep through the dogfight, the explosions, and Shego's venting of less-than-acceptable expletives. When the travel bag he inhabited was sucked out into open air and he was in free fall, he finally stirred.

All in all, he felt it was a rather unpleasant way to wake up.

--

In less than a second, Shego found herself free-falling over the open ocean, leaving an airborne trail of blood from the jagged rips in her palms and forearms. A throbbing in her left thigh told her there were other injuries, but her mind could only focus on the searing pain coming from her hands.

"Pull the cord... pull the cord..." Normally the thrill of free-fall appealed to her dare-devil side, but an ejection gone wrong was about as much of a thrill as Shego wanted for one day. Even flexing her fingers caused waves of pain. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew the tendons in her hands were badly damaged, but she would have to deal with it later.

Right now, she had to deploy the 'chute before pain or shock caused her to lose consciousness. Only years of training and willpower kept her from screaming, but she finally managed to pull hard enough on the rip cord to release the main parachute and slow her descent.

--

Rufus wasn't your average everyday pet. As a rodent, there was a certain amount of animal cunning and intelligence in his DNA. He had also been on missions with Team Possible since shortly after birth, which gave him a lot of personal experience with crisis management. It also exposed him to many strange rays, genetic manipulation, and even an appropriately named "genius ray" at one point.

In short, Rufus could think, plan, and improvise with the best of them.

Using the only materials at hand, the naked genius started fashioning his own little parachute.

--

The sudden jolt didn't help Shego's condition at all. She was now sweating profusely, and her breathing was shallow and rapid. Idly, she examined the bloody smears on her blouse where she had struggled with the rip cord. "Damn, I liked this shirt too." Shock was starting to take hold of her mind, and her brain simply refused to function rationally. She giggled to herself as she went on. "I forgot my credit cards too, so no mall trip for a while! Oh look, here comes the water!"

Cold water, combined with yet more pain from the salt on her open wounds, snapped her back from the short trip to dementia. Momentum carried her several feet under the surface, immersing her hands. The raw meat suddenly felt as if it were being cauterized with a cutting torch, and the resulting scream of anguish was muffled under the water. The agony was so intense that her body actually spasmed, her back arching on its own. Again, her experience with pain allowed her to recover more quickly than most people. Kicking back up to the surface, she had to swim a few feet to get past the silk of the parachute. She gasped for air as she broached the water, and struggled weakly with the buckles of the harness before shedding the parachute and pack.

Once the immediate needs of survival were met, Shego could theoretically start thinking about less pressing matters, like 'how close and in what direction is the nearest land?' or 'how long before this blood attracts a shark or ten?'

In actuality, all she could think about was the burning, nauseating pain from her shredded hands. Her instincts were trying to get them away from the searing salt, but succeeded only aggravating the injuries and forcing water deeper into the jagged wounds.

It took several minutes for Shego's reason to assert itself over her instinct, but she eventually managed to stop thrashing. There was no way to tell if she was sweating, but her breathing was still ragged and gasping. Her eyes burned from the salt water, and her vision was blurry as she looked for any signs of land.

There was nothing but sea and sky.

Shego desperately wanted to give up. Drakken was gone. Her brothers were probably going to jail for helping her. She was seriously hurt, lost somewhere in the open sea, with no food, no water, and little hope of rescue.

_Would it be so bad, to just sink under the water and take a deep breath?_ She leaned her head back, allowing herself to float on her back. _What will it be like to be dead? Do I just vanish? Is there something that comes next?_ She crossed her arms over her chest to keep them out of the painful salt water. _I wonder if this is what Mom and Dad felt when they were lost at sea? I wonder if they're waiting for me?_

Shego let her memories of her parents come back to her. Memories of her father, a large, dark haired swarthy man who always had time for his kids. Her pale, green eyed mother and her long dark hair. _Kimmie's pale skin and green eyes actually remind me of Mom a little_. _I wonder if that's why I could never make myself go all out against her_...

Other memories followed as well.

The meteor that gave her and her brothers the 'Go Team Glow'.

Becoming superheroes and the forming of Team Go.

Arguing with Hego about going with their parents on the boat, when he said the team needed to 'be on guard and protect Go City from evil'.

Blaming Hego for their parent's death, and turning to evil soon after.

Recent memories came more quickly: joining Drakken's 'evil family'; her rivalry with Kim Possible; the insane plots and weird gadgets of Drakken, and his final fatal mistake; her brothers, and their help in escaping Global Justice...

The running. Always running. Running from one lair to another. Running from Kim Possible. Running from Global Justice. Running from a doomsday device gone wrong. Running from the taunts of others in school or at a mall who only saw her green skin.

_I guess I'm done running, now_, she thought to herself.

A distant explosion brought her out of her reverie, if not her melancholy. Looking around, the only thing she could make out was the cloud of smoke coming from the Go Jet's apparent crash into the sea. The black plume was already dissipating. Raising her eyes, she saw a dot that didn't seem to be evaporating, but rather growing larger, as if getting closer.

Closer?

Shego blinked her eyes several times to clear her sight. Whatever it was, it was clearly approaching her spot of ocean. Squinting her eyes, she thought she could make out shapes. Two black cone-like projections, facing up, and a pinkish something below it.

When it got close enough to be seen easily, Shego's mouth dropped open.

There, hanging from one of her bras, with a pair of thong underwear as a harness/hammock, was the buffoon's little pet rat.

Shego had reached her limit.

It was the final outrage.

She wanted blood. If she couldn't have blood, she'd settle for one naked mole rat, extra crispy. "Oh no you didn't... you..."

She turned in the water to face the offending rodent.

"little..."

Hands came up off of her chest, cuts and gashes still bleeding.

"pink..."

Aiming so as to lead her target, Shego willed her power to charge up around her hands...

...and screamed as if she were in the fiery pits of Hell itself. The plasma didn't affect the intact skin at all, but every open cut on her hands instantly burst into flame. Her plasma died out almost immediately, but the damage was done. Her hands were once feared. flawless mint-green instruments of destruction. Now, the small scratches had become blistered streaks surrounded by blackened skin, and the open gashes resembled a poorly cooked roast. Shego didn't notice.

The only thing she noticed, as she fell into the black pit of unconsciousness, was the repulsive smell of her own burned flesh.

TO BE CONTINUED...

--


	15. The Challenge of Life

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter 15: The Challenge of Life

Disclaimer: Please, must we go through this every time? If you really think I own KP or anything involved with it, then you might be foolish enough to believe I'm interested in selling those rights... Any bids?

--

Floating...

It can be a very pleasant and relaxing experience. Lying on your back, small waves gently lapping at your partially submerged body... Nothing seems to matter. All thoughts are short-lived. You are content. You are at peace. If this is your end, then maybe it isn't such a bad way to go.

Now if only there wasn't a small, pink, hairless creature standing on your chest, splashing water in your face and chattering angrily...

As annoying as it was, it did keep Shego from wondering if she was dead. Whatever waited for her in the afterlife, it probably wasn't a naked mole rat with an attitude. Plus, she doubted that she would feel this much pain if she were dead.

A life full of close calls and an above-average amount of time spent unconscious allowed her to skip all the mental thrashing about and immediately take stock of her situation.

It still sucked as badly as before she had blacked out. In fact, with the addition of a naked mole rat and two throbbing hands, things were actually worse.

"Damn it, damn it. Couldn't be a quick, easy end, eh? No going out in a blaze of glory. Noooo... Shego has to get the lingering, drawn out death. And naturally, my only company in my last hours is a bald, overgrown rodent!"

Rufus was already quite irritated with the amount of effort it had taken to rouse the green woman. After blowing a raspberry, he decided to express his annoyance by imitating his two favorite humans when they were angry. He stomped around waving his arms.

Stomping around on a woman's chest with sharp little claws is a bad idea. Especially if said woman is already in a great deal of pain.

"HEY! Easy on the goodies, freak!" The sudden movement, the elevated blood pressure, and the still fresh wounds made the open handed swipe at the pink dancer very painful for everyone involved. It was the whole package; spots in front of the eyes, icy spasms in her gut... All the usual ways for the body to tell the mind that all is not well.

It took Shego a few moments to get control of her body again. Trembling slightly, she looked at the mangled flesh that her hands had become. Her enhanced healing was working, but the wounds were still very fresh.

"Oh... beautiful. Just freakin' beautiful! Add this to the list of crap I have to deal with."

A few feet away, a pink head broke the surface of the water. If Rufus had been angry before, he was now furious. The green female would have died if he hadn't kept her face above the water, and all she could do was yell and hit? The abnormally intelligent mole rat really, really wanted to just swim away and leave the ungrateful witch to her fate; but he was smart enough to realize that he wouldn't get far on his own. Right now, he needed Shego.

And she needed him, whether she wanted to admit it or not. But how could he make her realize that?

With a sigh and a few chittered mole rat profanities, Rufus swam towards his unlikely partner.

Shego, meanwhile, was considering the rather limited options of her current situation. There was death by dehydration, death by starvation, death by drowning, and last but not least death by shark or similar menace. The only option that offered any hope would be to find land. Simple. Piece of cake.

Though the Caribbean was dotted with many small, uncharted isles, it was almost impossible to find one except by sheer luck. She had been unable to find one from the air, and the chances of seeing one from the water were practically zero.

Shego briefly cursed her karma. She really needed a miracle right now, but with the things she'd done in her life no god or spirit would help her. She didn't even have a soul to sell; she'd lost that a long time ago.

She was out of options. She did the only thing she could think of; she looked at the sun, figured that it was afternoon, and started swimming west. Her face was covered with a grimace of pain as the salt water washed through her wounds.

After a few minutes, she felt an odd tug on her hair. It had probably been there before she noticed, but the torment from her hands drew most of her attention. Slowing her progress, she glanced behind her and saw a now familiar pink shape clinging to her floating black hair.

"You didn't get the message earlier? Get lost! Go find a shark or something!"

Rufus responded by shaking his head and growling.

Shego closed her eyes and sighed. She almost put her hands over her eyes before she remembered how much that would hurt. "You wanna tag along? Fine. Whatever." The mole rat wasn't heavy enough to slow her or make swimming more difficult. She really couldn't afford to waste energy and risk further injury by chasing off the pink stow-away. "Besides, if a shark comes by, I can throw you at it and get away."

The green woman ignored the outraged chattering from her passenger as she resumed her journey. Besides, she thought to herself, if I do find land, Dr. D's recipe for fried mole rat might come in handy.

--

As his ex sidekick and hench-woman painfully made her way west, Andre awoke to find a worried Luisa standing over him.

"Senor Lipscolm? Are you okay? It is me, Luisa! What happen to you?"

"I... I really don't... remember. I was in the bar, talking to a man... How did I get here?"

"Some men, I guess the same ones you were talking to in this bar, they brought you home."

Andre struggled to get to his feet. "Where..." He trailed off as his attempt to stand failed, and he fell back to the sofa. "Whoa... The room is spinning a bit too much."

"What were you drinking, Senor Lipscolm, and how much did you have?"

"I don't think alcohol is the reason I blacked out." Shaking his head to clear the lingering dizziness, he looked around the room. "You said some men brought me back here. Where are they?"

Another familiar voice answered his question. "I think they are still running, Andre. Luisa was very persuasive with her broom."

Andre blinked as he looked back and forth between Juan and Luisa. "She... chased them off? With a broom?"

"Oh, Si! Si! She was magnificent. You should have seen her!"

Both men looked at Luisa, who blushed slightly. "Senor Lipscolm, you have not told us what happened."

"Well, it's a rather long story..."

"Ah, excellent," Juan broke in, "we won't be bored this evening, as we have your long and very detailed story to hear."

Andre took a long look at Juan's face. The usual smile was still there, but it was swimming in a sauce of anger and contempt. "Why are you so upset? You warned me about those men. You even talked about how you wanted to learn torture so you could use it on them. The only difference is I actually did something!"

"Si, Senor. You did something. You brought them right to Luisa! What would have happened if Maria had been here? They might have taken them both! You were in no shape to stop them, were you?"

"Oh dear God! Where is Maria?" Andre looked around in panic.

"She is fine, Senor Lipscolm. When Juan came over, he brought Maria with him. She is in our room."

Andre exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Thank goodness for that."

"Someone around here has to think about things, Andre." Juan gestured sharply to Luisa. "Someone has to take care of these two!"

Andre, fueled by his growing anger at Juan, finally managed to make it to his feet. "I am taking care of them. Who took them in? Who went and tried to get rid of a threat to them? Hmm?

"Well Senor, if your idea was to bring the threat into your home so Luisa could deal with them, it went beautifully!"

"Enough!"

Whatever the two men may have said next died on their lips as Luisa glared them both into silence, her arms crossed over her chest.

"You both think I am some weak little girl who depends on others to keep her safe? How do you think I survived for four years after Maria's father was killed? I do not remember getting help from either of you! And who chased off these strangers while the men were on their asses?"

"But Luisa, I was next door..."

The dark eyes of the woman flashed angrily. "Si, next door, sitting on your ass with a drink in your hand! You see two men drag Senor Lipscolm into the house, and you do not come check on us until you see me chasing them? And you can say you are looking out for me and Maria?"

"But I didn't..."

"A dog that barks too late is not a guard dog, Juan. It is a pest."

Juan's eyes dropped to the floor. "Luisa, I'm sorry. Please..."

"Save your words. You will have your chance to explain. First I want some answers from Andre. Take Maria out back and let her play. I don't want her to hear what we say."

Juan relaxed a little at Luisa's request. If she still trusted him to watch her daughter, she couldn't hate him that much. "Si. I will keep a close eye on her."

"And stay close. I do not want to look for you when it is your turn."

"Si, Senorita." A little of his anxiety returned. Just because she didn't want to kill him didn't mean she wouldn't punish him.

Andre, still standing by the sofa, couldn't help but feel a little enjoyment at Juan's predicament. At least he wasn't alone in the stew pot. He resumed his seat and waited for Juan to get Maria and go outside.

Luisa simply stared at Andre as if trying to look through his skull and see into his mind. Her tight lips and narrowed eyes made Andre more than a little nervous.

As Juan brought the little girl back through the room to the door, she suddenly pulled away from him and jumped at the seated man. "Uncle Andre! Are you okay? Momma said you were sick. I haven't seen you around much. Are you better now?"

"I'm fine, sweetie. Just had a little problem on the way home, that's all. How about you? Have you had fun today?"

"Oh yeah! We saw shooting stars early today, and we've been playing pirates! I got to be the governor's daughter!"

"You did? How come you weren't a pirate, looking for treasure?"

"Because Miguel didn't wanna wear a dress." Juan and Luisa smiled a little at this. "And the governor's daughter can fight and hunt for gold too!"

Andre smiled at the boisterous little girl as she explained her world views. "They sure can, can't they?"

"Okay Maria, you can tell 'Uncle Andre' all about pirates when you come in for dinner."

"But-"

"Maria, go with Juan and play outside. Uncle Andre and I have to talk."

"Aww, you're jus' gonna yell at him again. Can't he say he's sorry now, and we can all go play?"

"I am not going to yell at him. We are only going to talk."

"That only means you won't yell loud."

"Maria!"

"Okay, momma," she said as she rolled her eyes. Then she looked at her adopted uncle. "You know, we could have a lot more fun if you didn't get in trouble all the time."

In spite of his impending reaming, Andre couldn't help but chuckle. "Maybe if I'd had a smart girl like you to tell me that a long time ago, I wouldn't get in so much trouble now."

"You aren't a bad boy, Uncle Andre. You're just goofy sometimes!" She turned in his lap and hugged him as hard as her little arms could. "Now hurry and make up with Momma, so we can go back to having fun!" Maria jumped off his lap and ran towards the door, dragging Juan behind her.

Andre looked at Luisa with wonder in his eyes. "That is one very smart little girl. Are you sure she's only seven years old?"

"Si. She will be eight in April." Luisa turned from Andre and walked to the window in the far corner of the room. It was as far from the sofa as she cold get without leaving. Glancing out through the curtains, her eyes became wistful as they followed her daughter, who was urging Juan to hurry towards the sandy beach. Unlike other children, who lived in safer places, Maria did not stray from her guardian's side. She had been taught not to get out of arms reach of a trusted adult.

It wasn't safe.

"She is so young, but she has had to grow up very quickly. She has had no childhood, yet she is bright and cheerful. I do not know how she does this."

Andre was slightly confused by Luisa's words and tone. It was a far cry from the berating he had anticipated. "She had to learn it from you, Luisa. Who else could have taught her?"

"I do not know. Maybe it is just her own gentle spirit, but it did not come from her father or me. That man," she said with a scowl, "had no patience for anything that went against his will. As for myself... my childhood was no better than Maria's. My father died when I was very young, and my mother did what she could for my brother and I."

Andre's eyes widened slightly at that revelation. "You have a brother?"

Luisa seemed to hug herself tightly. Her eyes dropped from the window, but focused on nothing. "Had. He was a year older than I. He was eleven, and I was ten, but he decided he had to be the man of the house. Not long after father died, a man broke into our house. He was there to take anything of value, not that we had much. Phillipe, my brother, tried to stop him." Luisa closed her eyes, vainly trying to block out painful images. "That man beat my brother so badly that he died a week later."

"I'm sorry. He sounds like he was a very brave boy."

"Yes, he was brave. He was also a fool. The thief beat him to death, and still took all we had. We needed Phillipe... not the things that were taken." She glanced sideways through her dark hair at the still-seated Andre. "And now, you do this foolish thing, rushing off to challenge these people you do not know, all to defend Maria and I. Did you even stop to consider what would happen if you did not come back? If you are gone, we have nothing, Andre! Nothing! No house, no money, no food, and no safety! I would have to start over again, and it is not getting easier!"

Andre was stunned on two levels by Luisa's words. The first and more basic surprise was that she never, ever, used his first name. It was always 'Senor Lipscolm' or 'Meester Andre Lipscolm' when she introduced him to someone. He wasn't sure what that meant.

The second, more serious shock was actually very simple to understand. No one had ever needed him before. There were a few people that would notice his absence, but their lives would not be adversely affected.

Yet here was a woman telling him that the lives of her daughter and herself depended on him, and that his loss would be a serious blow.

No one, not even his mother, had ever depended on him that much.

He had never been such an important part of anyone's life.

"I don't know what to say, Luisa. I didn't really think about it that way. No one has ever needed me... depended on me like this."

"You have been very kind to my daughter, and to me. I am so grateful to you. But I have to know if I can trust you now. I do not think you would try to hurt us, but are you going to do something stupid and get yourself killed? Do I need to protect my daughter from your foolishness?"

Andre became very still. He almost stopped breathing as he eyed the floor intently.

Once again, Andre was facing his own failure and inadequacy.

This time, it scared him out of his comfort zone.

In his many attempts to take over the world – or Canada, or Wisconsin, or wherever – he never believed in his heart that he could succeed. He would be stopped, go to jail, break out, and repeat the process. Prison didn't bother him as much as the potential harm to Shego, but she didn't seem to mind. She almost seemed to enjoy the fighting, and the minor bruises and cuts that came with it. She seemed to come alive when she fought for something, even if it was his latest foolish plan. She never complained, so it didn't bother him as much as it probably should have.

But now, the risk was much greater. If he allowed Luisa and Maria to depend on him, and he then failed, they would feel it. It could change the course of their future, or even shorten their lives if he failed badly enough.

Luisa simply watched him as all these thoughts passed through his tempestuous mind. Her piercing gaze had settled on his motionless form.

"Well, Andre?"

So much for the speed of thought. "I... I don't know, Luisa. I would like to say that I won't screw up like this ever again. The problem is I don't think I can honestly promise you anything. After all, I wasn't planning on screwing up this time. I just don't know. You know I didn't mean to put you and Maria at risk, right? I would never hurt you two on purpose."

"Si, Andre. That much I know. You are not a 'bad boy' as my daughter said. But good intentions are not enough. You have a good heart. But I have to consider my daughter's future. As those men, whoever they were, pointed out, I do not know much about you. Where did you come from? Why did you come here? Are you running from the law, like they said?"

"Please, Andre, talk to me. Tell me about you. I want to trust you, but to do that I must know who you really are besides my employer."

Andre sighed. His goal, since he had hatched his plan of faking death and starting over, was to bury the past. He did not want to dig it up and show it to anyone. Least of all Luisa, who actually seemed to accept him.

In spite of the risk and the responsibility, Andre wanted Luisa and Maria in his life. It felt good to be needed. If he wanted her to trust him again, there was no choice but to trust her with at least some of his life's story.

The question was exactly how much he could tell her before she grabbed Maria and fled from him?

I will tell her the basics of what I once was, but I have to be as vague as I can, he thought as he motioned her towards the couch. "Very well, Luisa. You'd better sit down, this might take a while."

Sitting back on the sofa with a deep breath, he tried to get comfortable as she sat in a chair facing him. "I was an only child. My childhood was nothing unique. I used to fixate on all the bullying and such that I faced, but most kids have to deal with that at some point. My family was neither rich nor poor. My father died when I was in junior high, but he had thought ahead and made plans. My mother and I were still secure. Mother, bless her, never showed any interest in finding another man, but she always worried about the lack of a male influence in my life. I think perhaps she overcompensated... Anyway, the point is my life was average. Normal."

"Then I went off to college."

"The first couple of semesters went well. My grades were good, I made some friends..." Andre's wistful look matched the tone of his voice.

"Things really started to change when I began my primary classwork."

"Primary classwork?"

"Yes, the classes related to your main course of study. In my case, engineering. The first couple of semesters are filled with general classes that all students must take. Then you go to the professors who teach you about your chosen field."

"Ah, I see," said Luisa as she nodded.

"Well, I was young and had been pampered by my mother. I thought I knew it all. I simply didn't know better than to argue with people who had years of experience. I was more interested in fighting with the professors than learning from them. My grades fell, my professors and classmates started to hate me. Eventually, I lost my scholarship, and had to drop out."

"I hid it from my mother. She never did find out that I didn't graduate."

"She still does not know?"

Andre looked at the ceiling. Talking about his mother was still painful for him. "She died shortly before I came here."

"Oh... I am so sorry Andre."

"Don't be. I'm okay, and you couldn't have known... She was a sweet woman. All I wanted was for her to be proud of me."

"After I left school, I tried my hand at inventing things, to prove I didn't need a degree to be successful. I made many things, but none of them really worked like I had hoped. I came up with a lot of... schemes... to try and make something of myself. I wanted my mother to feel like all the effort and sacrifice was worthwhile."

"So what happened, Andre? How did you end up here?"

"Well, I had made a lot of enemies. My schemes never actually hurt anyone, but they did cause a lot of trouble for many innocent people."

"This trouble... was it the kind of trouble that the law would want to discuss with you?"

Sharp mind, this woman. "Yes, you could say that. By the time my mother fell ill, I had already lost interest in fame and glory. Once she passed on, I didn't feel the same drive to impress her."

"My staff, for lack of a better word, didn't respect me any more than my professors or so-called friends. My... partner couldn't care less if I disappeared."

"So I did. I erased my trail, and I ended up here. After a week or two, I realized I needed help around the house, and found you. You know the story from there."

Luisa gazed upon the still motionless storyteller as she absorbed what he had said. She let out a heavy breath that wasn't quite a sigh.

"If it were only me... would I stay, since the risk would only be mine, or would I leave, since it would be easier to take care of only myself?" She rose from her seat and gazed out the window, crossing her arms and unconsciously rubbing her upper arms slowly. Her pose resembled a woman gently rocking an infant.

"But it is a foolish question, yes? It is not just me. I must think of Maria first. I must do what is best for her, even if it means I must give up my dreams. But you know, Andre? My dream now is for Maria to have a better life. And so far, her life has been much better since we met you. I feel you are a good person though sometimes a foolish one. Even what you have done today was an attempt to protect us, not harm us. My heart... it tells me to trust you, that you will help us. I do not know if I trust you, but I trust your heart."

"But most important, my daughter trusts you. She likes you. She wants to be around you. And she needs a good man around, so that when she is older she will know how to recognize a good one."

"Me? A good man? You should have another chat with your heart. I'm a lot of things, but no one has ever called me a good man."

"That is because the women in your country could not tell a good man from El Diablo himself. They are told as girls that they do not need a man, just as the boys are told they do not need a woman. Both are lies. They should be told how to find a good man – or woman – instead of being fed the lies of bitter old maids and lonely men."

"Now go and watch Maria, and send Juan to me. He and I must also have words."

"So... you trust me? You'll stay here?"

"I think so, Senor Lipscolm. I will have to watch your foolishness, but I think things will be okay. I have plenty of brooms to keep you in line."

Her smile had just enough of a twist in it to tell Andre she wasn't completely joking.


	16. Progress

Change Isn't Easy

Change Isn't Easy

by

Chapter 16: Progress

Disclaimer: Only thing I own is the line at the end... and maybe some of the ones in the middle. Pretty much all the characters are owned by the Mouse from Hades...

--

Mole rats do not fly, naked or otherwise. When one is in the air, shooting almost straight up, something is probably wrong.

As gravity slowed the small rodent's progress and began to drag it back to the surface, he glanced briefly at the pale green woman.

She was the reason that the mole rat was airborne. The smirk on her face revealed that she enjoyed the sight of the pink projectile plunging into the salty sea.

Rufus quickly swam back to the surface and faced his temporary partner. She stared right back at him.

"Well? See anything?"

Rufus shook his head. "Uhn uhn."

Shego cursed under her breath. "You're positive that you saw birds in this direction?"

"Uh huh! Yup!" Rufus emphasized his confidence by pointing firmly in the direction they were heading, slightly south of the sinking sun.

Shego's undersized partner was a source of some confusion to her. She knew that the mole rat was more than just a well trained and cunning pet. His ingenuity had thwarted enough of Drakken's plans that no one would doubt his intelligence. She had often insulted her former employer by reasoning that if the mole rat could defeat his schemes, that must mean that Rufus was smarter than Dr. D.

Just one of many insults she regretted.

I wish I could just see him one more time to tell him I'm sorry...

Geez, get a grip. If I keep thinking about that, I'll see him right after I drown.

It's only a matter of time. I'm going to die out here. Maybe I should just give up. Maybe I'll see Drakken and tell him I didn't mean to hurt him.

Right before I get thrown into the pits of Hell?

Yeah. Right before the flames take my voice away.

Shego, treading water as she fought with her own inner voices, suddenly started punching viciously at the water, heedless of the open cuts on her hands. "No! I won't give up! I may die out here, but I will not quit until I do!"

Rufus started at Shego with wide eyes, wondering if she had lost whatever sanity she had left.

Shego felt slightly self conscious about the scrutiny, knowing she must look like a complete idiot. She reacted as she usually did, and covered her embarrassment by lashing out. "What the hell are you looking at, shark bait? You got a problem?"

Rufus answered with a combination of chittering, head shaking, and hand gestures that roughly translated as, "Who, me? Problem? Oh, heavens no."

"Then get your bald ass over here and let's get moving. It'll be dark soon, and I don't know what might be a night feeder in this water. You'd better be right about those birds and hope there's land this way, because I promise you, anything that comes after us will eat you first!"

Rufus knew the basics of human psychology, thanks to his exposure to a 'brain ray' some years ago. He understood defensive mechanisms, projection, and the like.

He also knew that few people enjoyed being on the wrong end of displaced anger, and neither did he. He cursed the twists of fate that tied him to the ill-tempered female and left him so far from his favorite human.

Nevertheless, he obediently swam back to her and latched onto her black hair, doing his best to be as inoffensive as possible.

The mole rat remained completely silent as Shego resumed her painful journey.

About twenty minutes later, Shego slowed and began treading water again. "Okay shark bait, time for the next eye-in-the-sky report."

Rufus nodded, and let go of her hair. As the green woman floated on her back and raised her right leg out of the water, he jumped onto her foot.

"You ready?"

"Uh huh."

"Okay, on three. One... two... three!" As she grunted out the last word, she snapped her knee straight with all her remaining strength. Her momentum forced her head underwater, which wasn't terribly safe in her current state, but things were getting desperate. She was running out of daylight and energy. Unless she found a safe haven, and soon, she was going to die.

She didn't know what she was clinging to; what was keeping her going forward. Something inside her didn't want to give in to the parts of her psyche that wanted to close her eyes and pass on without a fight.

Perhaps she had just been fighting against the world for so long, she simply didn't know how to stop.

All she consciously knew was that she did not want to die here in the middle of the ocean. This was not how she wanted to meet her end.

As Rufus completed his aerial maneuvers, he let out a loud 'yeah-heah!' before diving back into the water. Wasting no time, he practically jumped up in front of Shego and began to chatter and point excitedly.

Shego's pulse quickened slightly. "You saw something? A good something?"

The mole rat nodded his head frantically. "Land!"

Shego's excitement grew, even as she realized she might be more exhausted than she thought. If she was beginning to hear words from her pink companion, she was clearly beginning to hallucinate.

"How far away is it?"

Rufus held his paws about a shoulder's width apart, and then moved them closer together.

"You mean not far?"

Rufus nodded his assent.

"What is 'not far'? A mile? Five?"

Rufus shrugged; he couldn't accurately judge human distances.

"I guess it doesn't matter how far it is. It's not getting any closer. C'mon, shark bait. Let's get moving."

As he resumed his place in Shego's hair, Rufus couldn't help but notice his partner's improved tone. While still sarcastic and a little testy, she didn't seem as openly hostile as before. Was it because she now thought she might have a chance of survival? Or maybe, just maybe, she realized he could be useful?

That was something he could think about later. For now, it was more important to get to ground.

After another ten minutes, Shego noticed a slight but noticeable current in the water. She also thought she heard a very faint sound of waves breaking on a beach somewhere.

Don't get your hopes up, she thought to herself. You already thought the rat was talking to you; this might be another mis-firing brain cell. She did allow the faint glimmer of hope to give her an adrenaline boost.

When she finally saw a flock of seagulls, she knew she wasn't dreaming.

"I've never been so glad to see a bunch of dumb birds in my life!"

The remainder of the journey was rather unremarkable; there were no last-minute obstacles to overcome. In fact the tidal currents gently helped her along, and soon Shego found solid footing beneath her. Exhausted didn't really cover her condition; she was running on pure, stubborn willpower, and even that was beginning to fail.

She had no energy left for a celebration. Dropping to her knees, she looked at sand-dancing Rufus and smiled.

"I'm not done yet," she said as her eyes closed and her body slumped sideways onto the soft beach.

--

"No! We're not done yet!" Ron's voice was a little more forceful than usual, and had none of his typical pleading, whining tone.

"Ron, we've been searching all day. We haven't seen so much as an oil slick out here. The Go Jet would have left at least that much. We have to try somewhere else." Kim's voice was much softer. She didn't need to raise her voice thanks to the noise cancellation of their headsets.

Ron and Kim were currently sitting in the door of a Global Justice search-and-rescue helicopter over the Gulf of Mexico. Ron wasn't sure exactly where the line was between the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea, and he really didn't care.

Rufus was down there, somewhere, and that was all he could think about.

"Damn!" Ron emphasized his extremely rare profanity by slamming his left hand against the open door of the search helicopter. His right hand was held by his cheerleader girlfriend.

Kim was a little startled by his language. Ron never swore in her presence. In general, he didn't swear around women at all. If she hadn't once walked in on Ron and Felix trading insults while playing a video game, she wouldn't have believed he even knew any four letter words.

"Ron, we'll find him. We're not the only ones looking, either. Most of GJ-North America, the Coast Guard, and even part of the Navy are out looking. Not to mention Wade and his satellites and communications surveillance."

"I know, KP, but I can't help thinking that he might be running out of time. What if he's hurt? What if he's being chased? He's depending on me to save him, and I'm running around looking for an oil slick!"

Kim gripped his hand tightly with her own while putting her arm around his shoulders. She knew exactly what he was going through. "Ron, listen. Do you remember a few years ago, at Christmas, when you took on Drakken by yourself so I could spend the day with the fam?"

"Yeah, but what-"

"Just listen. When you were up there with Drakken, I felt exactly the same as you do now. As I do now."

"I know, but still he's out there, wondering where I am-"

"Ron! Stop it! Stop torturing yourself!" A deep breath, a long sigh, and Kim continued in a calmer voice. "Ron, when you were up there in the snow, hungry, cold, and wondering how to get home, did you blame me?"

"Of course not!"

"Did you think I would ever quit looking for you?"

"No, KP. You've had my back since pre-k." Ron's face was puzzled; he really didn't know what his girlfriend was trying to say.

"Rufus knows you've got his back, Ron. He knows we've got his back, and we won't give up until we find him. He also knows that he has to keep himself safe until we can get to him. He believes in you, Ron. Believe in him, okay?"

"I do, KP, but it's just..."

"I know, Ron." She needed to stop his self-doubt and anxiety. When under pressure, her boyfriend could become obsessive to the point of self destruction. Under normal circumstances, her boyfriend was about as relaxed and easy-going as a human could be without the use of chemical assistance.

When the chips were down, Ron reacted in one of two ways; if he knew someone else had things under control, he freaked out. Arms flailing, screaming incoherently, he would do his best to imitate a chicken in a room full of foxes.

If he felt someone was depending on him, Ron's reaction was quite different. He was focused. He might be agitated, but there were no hysterics. He displayed a level of competence and skill that would amaze his family and friends.

Everyone but Kim, that is.

Ron had been helping her save the world since her very first mission. In fact, it had been Ron who urged her to perform the rescue instead of calling the authorities.

What would their lives be like if she hadn't listened to him years ago?

The rest of the world didn't know the Ron she knew. Very few people knew what really happened on one of their missions.

They knew Kim Possible saved the world.

They didn't know that while she was fighting Shego one-on-one, Ron was going against Drakken and the rest of his goons at a ten, fifteen, or even twenty-to-one disadvantage.

And he almost always won, somehow.

The news media never seemed to catch that part, but others were coming around. Wade was doubtful at first, but now trusted Ron's abilities almost as much as Kim's. Global Justice even tried to study him, noting his odd luck or 'Ron Factor' as they named it.

"I know how hard this is. I know how hard it is for me right now, with Rufus out there and we don't have any idea where or in what shape. It's so much harder for you. He's your best friend, brother, even your child all rolled into one. You're just as protective of him as you would be your parents, Hana... or me."

"We've known each other since we were five. We've been saving the world together since junior high. We'll be saving the world when we're together in college."

Maybe it wasn't the best time, but the future was very much on her mind right now. In one of the many mother-daughter talks about love and relationships, Kim had asked how she would know when she had found 'the one'.

As mothers often do, Mrs. Dr. Possible, answered ambiguously. "There's no way to really explain it well. You just feel it in your heart that this is the one you want to be with forever. And as you grow together, you feel like a lifetime with them isn't enough."

In a search and rescue helicopter over the Gulf of Mexico, searching for a lost team mate, Kim Possible realized she had no doubts anymore.

"And hopefully, we'll be together for a long, long time after that, whether we're saving the world or not."

It took a second, since Ron was focused on Rufus, but he did catch the hint in Kim's words. "As long as you want me, I'll be there. Nothing will drag me away."

The redhead gave the blond a quick kiss on the cheek. She would have tried for the lips, but their position and helmets prevented that. "Then you'll be with me forever, because I don't ever want you to leave. Now let's find our buddy, okay?"

"That isn't going to be so easy. Where is he?"

"We'll find him, Ron. Check the name. I'm Kim 'I can do anything' Possible. You're Ron un-Stoppable. Together, we're Team Possible, and anything is possible for Team Possible."

Kim Possible knew 'the one' was sitting right next to her, and had been beside her for most of her life.

"Thanks, KP. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Resting her helmeted head against his, Kim felt the concern for Rufus gnawing at her mind. Still, it was a great comfort knowing that Ron had the same feelings for her that she had for him.

--

Andre sat in the warm sand, enjoying a pleasant evening with his favorite bundle of energy. In spite of his earlier mistake and close call, he realized his current situation was pretty good.

A simple ocean breeze was all he needed to fill him with a sense of contentment. Even the sound of an irate Luisa shredding the feelings of a helpless Juan couldn't bother him – mostly because it wasn't him being shredded.

More out of a desire to interact with Maria than any real curiosity, Andre asked a question about her earlier activities. "So Maria. What was that about shooting stars you talked about earlier?"

"Oh, that. When we were playing pirates, we saw five or six shooting stars, way out over the ocean. They weren't as pretty as they are at night."

"Yes, they're much prettier at night," Andre agreed. Such was his contentment that not even a shred of interest stirred in his mind.

Had he chosen to question further, he might have realized that the streaks Maria and her friends saw were actually missile trails from an aerial dogfight.

He might have gone to investigate, and found a small island inhabited by a naked mole rat and a green-skinned young woman.

He might have rescued his ex-partner before other, less friendly people found her.

Instead, he chatted easily with the little girl who shared his pitcher of lemonade, and the world traveled down a different path.

He would never realize he even had a chance to change the future that was now descending upon him.

Such are the unseen consequences of life.

To be continued...


	17. Progress Stalled

Change Isn't Easy

A/N: _Welcome, one and all. As you may or may not know, but this story was originally written by Visigoth, who decided to retire the fic. I volunteered to take it and raise it as my own, and she accepted. So here it is, the beginning of the rest of Change Isn't Easy._

Change Isn't Easy

by MaceEcam

Chapter 17: Progress Stalled

Shego opened her eyes. It was dark. She was about to get up when she noticed the mole rat on her chest.

_Between_ her chest.

"Get off!" she yelled at the thing sitting up. Rufus went flying and landed a few feet away, chattering angrily.

She regretted this immediately.

"Damn it!" Shego fell back onto her side and grabbed her left shoulder. Oh yeah. That hurt.

Rolling over onto her side she was able to use here knees and good arm to push herself up. Soon she was standing, albeit wobbly. She lurched forward a few steps and fell against a tree, sitting down, she sat with her back pressed against it.

Her stomach growled. It must have been a while since she had last eaten. Suddenly she felt what felt like a wet nose pressing against here leg. Looking down she saw the mole rat carrying what appeared to be a fish.

A fish. The rodent knew how to fish. Of course, why not. Maybe it knew piano to?

Little did Shego know but Rufus indeed DID know how to play the piano.

"Thanks for the food, but I don't know if I can eat raw fish." She sad to the rodent. Rufus nodded and then ran over to a small pile of wood.

"You gathered firewood? He nodded. Shego stretched out her good arm and prepared to fire-

-then stopped. Slowly she brought her hands up to her face and examined the. Here healing factor had already removed most of the cuts, but her hands were still burning beyond recognition. She tried bringing up a bit of here power but stopped as pain shot through her fingers.

"Sorry sharkbait. No can do."

Rufus nodded then looked thoughtful for a moment. He ran over to the wood pile and grabbed two sticks. Holding one in his teeth, he then moved the other one back and forth with his paws. Soon a small fire was going, just large enough for Shego to sit in front of to get warm and cook her fish.

"Thanks, sharkbait"

Rufus grinned.

Captain King was thinking.

Mere moments after watching the jet be destroyed by Unity, he had been informed that Shego had escaped from the plane and was now somewhere in the ocean. Whether she was live or dead, he didn't know, and his agents were busy scouring the area.

That was five hours ago. And so far, nothing had been found.

The radar beeped showing yet another Unity salvage vessel on the radar. After a few encounters, the two sides had made an unspoken agreement to leave each other alone, at least until something was found. After all, both teams could easily call in more once theirs were destroyed.

He stopped pacing.

"Why here?

"Sir? Lt. Li asked.

"Why was Shego here?"

"Because of a supply dump sir, we have it's coordinates. "

"Yes but why _here? _Why _this_ supply dump. What if she was looking for something?"

"Sir?

"Pull up a map of all known islands, regardless of size. Mark all populated islands in red, all others green."

The lieutenant did as he asked. Soon a large holographic image of the surrounding area appeared in front of him. There a number of large red islands, though the majority of them were green.

"Add her estimated flight path"

The lieutenant typed at her computer for a moment before a line appeared stretching from one end of the map to the other. It wasn't really a line, as it curved and turned in several places. A blinking red dot showed where the plane went down

"Would you like to see where we've already searched?"

"No need. Look at these flight patterns. It looks like she doesn't know where she's going." he thought a moment before continuing. "Pull up all data on all known lairs belonging to Dr. Drakken. Are there any in the area?"

A red dot appeared at the very edge of the map.

"Just one sir, however it is the one destroyed in the supposed anti-matter explosion."

"I see. Call off the search, if she's down there she's dead. Begin searching of the islands immediately. With any luck she washed up on shore.

The door to the house slamming shut woke Andre from his dream. It was a strange dream, with a strange little man trying to get him to eat green eggs and ham. It was a nice dream, compared to the nightmare he had the night before, of explosions and anti-matter.

"_No._" he thought. "_That life is behind me now_"

Or was it? As much as he tried to deny it, that life was part of him, In it he had always failed, and just recently he had failed again in protecting the ones he cared about.

He thought about his mother, and was for a moment ashamed at himself, keeping such a secret from her. He looked at Maria. He had put her and her daughter in danger, and hadn't even an explanation as to why.

"_I have to tell her_," he thought. But no, instead he put a smile on his face. After all, there's still plenty of time.

"Back already?" he asked glancing at his watch, "I thought you said you'd be gone half the day."

"I came home early," Maria said walking into the living area, trailing Luisa behind her. "There were some strange men in town today asking question's and putting up posters."

"Strange how?"

"Just something about them. Asking about a green skinned woman-"

The look on Andre's face was enough to cause her pause. It was a look of pure terror.

"What's wrong?"

"Not here" Andre replied so quietly Maria could barely hear him, "Not now"

And with that the man formally known as Dr. Drakken was out the door, running as fast as he could.

It did not take Andre long to reach town. When he did, he saw immediately what Maria had been talking about. On the wall of a tavern, among all of the weathered wanted posters sat two new ones. One of them was Shego.

The other was Drakken.

Doctor Better Director was trying to get to sleep. "Trying" being the key word here, as her mind was overflowing with memories of the past two days events.

First, Shego had vanished. Last seen flying over the Caribbean, her plane had completely vanished from radar, and had yet to reappear. This in it's self wasn't of much worry, as who ever was looking for Shego would, presumably at least, be unable to find her as well. It was the other constant annoyance.

Her bedside phone rang. Again. Groaning, she picked it up.

"Yes?"

"Dr. Director, it's Ron-"

"No Mr Stoppable, there hasn't been any news in the five minutes since your LAST call. How did you get this number anyway?"

"Wade got it for me, said he was tired of calling you for me and gave it to me"

"Remind me to have a talk with Mr. Load. Now GOODNIGHT." and with that she hung up.

Sighing the brunette laid back down and closed her eyes once more.

RINGGGGG!

Hey eyes flying open Betty Director grabbed at the phone and screamed into it. "LISTEN YOU LITTLE PIECE OF-"

"Dr. Director?" came the voice on the other side.

Betty instantly cooled. "Yes Will?"

"We've got a problem. You may want to come down here."

Betty quickly changed back into her uniform and walked over to the emergency GJ access tunnel. As she stood on it, the floor beneath her dropped out causing her to slide the half mile down into Global Justice Headquarters.

"What is it? Have you been able to get permission to enter the airspace yet?"

Earlier that day while preparing to launch a search party for Shego they had found they surrounding airspace to be restricted. Restricted by whom, they did not know, which was what Will had been trying to find out for the past few hours.

I can't go any farther. I've gone as high as my security clearance will allow."

"Move" she said standing next to the computer and entering her password. The access denied sign flashed up on the screen.

"_That's not right._" She typed it again. Again, the words access denied flashed up on the screen.

"Something's smells fishy."

"What should we do sir?" Will asked.

"Well officially, no one from Global Justice can enter the area."

"Officially sir?"

Betty smiled and reached for her cell phone. It rang right before she opened it.

"Hello? Mr. Stoppable. So glad you called. Actually, I do have some news."

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: _So, what did everyone think? I'm trying to keep this story as close to how it originally was, while still adding to the story in my own unique way. I hope you all liked this chapter, and I hope to have the next chapter out by Friday at the latest. I am also looking for a beta for this story in case any of you are interested._


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